Barbara Chilangwa is a graduate of the University of Zambia and a former secondary school teacher who rose through the ranks to the top Civil Service position of Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education in Zambia.
As a renowned educationalist and girls’ education activist, she spearheaded the establishment of Zambia’s Girls’ Education Program during her tenure of office and led the setting up of the Zambia Subsector Investment Programme (BESSIP) which resulted in pooled resources from cooperating partners for the improvement of access and quality to the subsector. Ms. Chilangwa invited CAMFED to introduce its program in Zambia and served as Patron before taking up the position of Executive Director, and now Executive Advisor.
Ms. Chilangwa brings with her a wealth of experience on education reforms, girls’ and women’s issues, and international relations, and she has led a multi-sectoral, national approach to child protection. As Zambia’s Ambassador to Angola, she contributed to improving relations between Zambia and Angola. Ms. Chilangwa is a board member of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), which brings together developing country partners, donors, multilateral agencies, and the private sector to achieve the common goal of ensuring all children receive a quality education. As a GPE Board Representative for Southern Civil Society and the CAMFED Zambia Executive Director, Ms. Chilangwa contributed to the Learning Metrics Task Force (LMTF), a multi-stakeholder collaboration led by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the Center for Universal Education at Brookings. LMTF worked to improve learning outcomes for children and youth worldwide.