Maki Hayashikawa has more than 20 years of development experience in the areas of education, early childhood care and education and gender, with 15 years of her work being in the Asia-Pacific region with UNESCO, UNICEF and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

While based in Bangkok, Ms Hayashikawa managed and coordinated UNESCO’s regional network on gender in education, GENIA (Gender in Education Network in Asia-Pacific). GENIA, created in 2003, brought together gender focal points in the ministry of education from 13 regional countries, for policy dialogue, advocacy and capacity-building collaboration. She carried out gender training for ministries of education and coordinated and edited a series on policy advocacy briefs on gender and education. Immediately prior to taking up her current position with UNESCO Headquarters, she served as the Education Specialist and Regional Focal Point for the United Nations Girls Education Initiative (UNGEI) and coordinated the East-Asia Pacific Regional UNGEI.

Ms Hayashikawa continues to represent UNESCO in the UNGEI Global Advisory Committee (GAC) and serves on the Steering Committee of UNGEI GAC. Recently, Ms Hayashikawa contributed as the lead author to the preparation of the education chapter of Cambodia’s Gender Assessment 2014 produced by the Ministry of women’s Affairs.

Ms Hayashikawa holds a BSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics, an MA in Education Planning from the Institute of Education, University of London, and an M.Ed in Early Childhood Education from South Australia University. She is currently pursuing her EdD degree with the National Institute of Education, Singapore, with a focus on the status of female teachers.