Deadline 15 February 2022

About the UNESCO-Hamdan Prize for Teacher Development

The UNESCO-Hamdan Prize for Teacher Development was created in 2008 to support the improvement of teaching and learning quality in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Quality Education, which is one of UNESCO’s priorities.The Prize is awarded every two years to three winners whose projects aim at improving the performance and effectiveness of teachers worldwide.The Prize is generously supported by the Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Distinguished Academic Performance in the United Arab Emirates, and amounts to US $300,000, which is equally divided between the three winners.

Who is eligible to apply?

1. Institutions or organizations; international or national governmental or non-governmental organizations; educational or research institutions active in the field of teaching and learning.

2. Candidate organizations and institutions nominated by an official nominating body:
i). The Member States in consultation with their National Commissions
ii). Non-governmental organizations in official partnership with UNESCO are active in a field covered by the Prize.

3. Applications must be submitted in English or in French only.

4. Only organizations and institutions' projects will be considered. Self-nominations are not eligible for the Prize and will not be considered

What are the conditions of the project’s eligibility?

1. The project must have made a significant contribution to enhancing teaching and learning, in line with UNESCO’s principles and objectives in this field.
2.The project must be exemplary and likely to stimulate similar initiatives; it must have shown itself to be effective in mobilizing new intellectual and material resources.
3.The project must be ongoing for at least three years at the time of the application.

How to nominate a project?

Nominations can be submitted in two ways:

1. Candidates may contact the National Commission for UNESCO of their country or an Organization maintaining official relations with UNESCO to request a nomination letter.
2. Nominating bodies identify nominees and send them a nomination letter.

Each body can nominate up to 5 candidates before the deadline, and the nomination letter must comply with the Prize requirements.

The nomination letter is uploaded by the candidate in the online platform. In exceptional cases where candidates do not have access to Internet, nominating bodies can request access to the online platform to submit the candidate nomination and application.

How to apply?

1. Candidates must register online to request an account. In doing so, candidates must comply with the eligibility requirements.
2.  After registration is completed, only eligible candidates receive an invitation link via email to access and complete the online application form.
3. Candidates receive an email notification once they submit their application. The nominating body also receives an automatic notification of the candidate application.
4. The nominated application is received by the UNESCO Secretariat, the application process is complete.

Selection Process 

1. The Prize Secretariat reviews all applications received before the deadline and transmits the eligible applications to the International Jury of the Prize.
2. The International Jury meets in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) to assess the applications.
3. UNESCO Director-General selects the three winners based on the recommendations of the International Jury.
4. The Prize is awarded to the winners during an official ceremony organized in October 2022 on World Teachers’ Day at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris (France).

For more information on the application process, please contact:

The Secretariat of the UNESCO-Hamdan Prize for Teacher DevelopmentEducation Sector UNESCO

E-mail: teacherprize@unesco.org