Biography

Himalchuli Gurung is a trained architect and holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and Building Technology. She started her career with UNESCO in 1998 as a United Nations Volunteer for the International Safeguarding Campaign for the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Site. Ms Gurung served as a National Programme Officer for Education and Culture based in UNESCO Kathmandu Office in Nepal (2000-2004). She took up her international duties as UNESCO Programme Specialist for Culture based in UNESCO Jakarta Regional Bureau for Sciences in Asia and the Pacific in Indonesia and was responsible for implementing Culture Programme activities in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Timor-Leste (2004-2008). She also served in the Caribbean based in the UNESCO Kingston Cluster Office for the Caribbean covering 18 Dutch and English Caribbean Territories (2008-2015). She joined UNESCO Beijing Office in June 2015. She was appointed as the representative of the Director-General of UNESCO on the Governing Board of the International Training Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific region (CRIHAP), the International Research Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (IRCI) and the International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific region (ICHCAP) in February 2016.