Rebecca Telford

Dr Becky Telford, UNHCR’s Chief of Education, is an education specialist with twenty years’ experience in supporting children whose lives are affected by crisis and conflict.  Following six years working on urban governance and human rights with Shack/Slum Dwellers International, Becky moved to Kenya in 2006 and spent four years in east Africa working on innovative solutions to education and youth engagement with Pamoja Trust, Internews and BBC Media Action.  Returning to Sudan in 2012, she served as Country Representative for War Child Holland, leading the start-up of eLearning Sudan, a programme which uses serious games to bring education to the most disadvantaged children. Becky has also undertaken multiple positions with UNICEF: providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Education in Suriname; through the New York HQ to support country offices to integrate peace-building into education programming; and most recently as the education focal point in the Global Innovations Team.  Directly prior to joining UNHCR, Becky had been an Education Advisor with the UK’s Department for International Development, finishing her tenure there as the Human Development Team Leader for DFID DRC. As a doctoral candidate who graduated from Leicester University in 2018, Becky sought to understand the local realities of teaching with technology in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp.