Gustavo Merino is Director of Social Polices at UNESCO since January 2024. He has held senior positions in the Government of Mexico including Vice Minister of Social and Human Development and Vice Minister for Prospective, Planning and Evaluation at the Ministry of Social Development. He was also General Director (CEO) of Mexico’s national development bank for agriculture and rural areas, Financiera Rural. He has also served as Director of the Investment Centre Division of the Food and agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). At Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico he was Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Government for the Mexico City region and led he Research Centre on Public Policy and Health at the School of Government as well as the Public Policy Unit of the Institute for Obesity Research. He has also been Professor of Economics and Director for at Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de Mexico (ITAM) in Mexico City and Director of its Centre for Public Policy Research. He has a Master’s and PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University and a BA in Economics from ITAM.