Mónika Dunai, vice president for social relations
language teacher, literateur, member of the Hungarian Parliament
“Global and local sustainability is unthinkable without helping and catching up in Africa. Establishing mutually prosperous business relations with African countries is possible by bringing knowledge, skills, innovative solutions and technology there, as well as knowledge transfer between our countries. At the Africa Knowledge Center, we also help young professionals, entrepreneurs, artists, researchers and diplomats who envision their future in the service of Hungary’s Opening to the South strategy and aspirations. Our main goal is to operate a knowledge center and create a knowledge base that will help the Hungarian foreign economy to become more efficient, effective and successful.”
In 2014, then in 2018, she was elected as Member of Parliament in the constituency of Nr. 14 Budapest, in Rákosmente and Kőbánya. She is a member of the Fidesz faction of the Parliament and works in the Committees on Culture, Legislation and European Affairs.
She is delegated by the Parliament of Hungary to the Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie (Parliament of the Francophone Countries), which includes also many African countries. She is also a member of several foreign affairs sections of the Interparliamentary Union, including the group of African representatives of Sub-Saharan Africa, and is the vice-president of the Bulgarian-Hungarian friendship section.
She graduated from the Eötvös Loránd University with a degree in Hungarian language and literature, a degree in Russian language and literature, then a secondary school teacher majoring in French language and literature. She completed her PhD doctoral program at the Doctoral School of Literature, Faculty of Arts, University of Miskolc.
Prior to her election as a Member of Parliament, she worked in Budapest as a teacher, deputy headmaster and civil servant. She has been involved in public life since 1990. She was elected to the Board of Representatives of the Local Government of Rákosmente five times. She chaired the committees on education, culture and non-governmental organizations, and was the leader of the Fidesz faction in the municipality.
Her main areas of practice are culture, education, media, family policy, foreign affairs and cultural diplomacy.
As the founding vice-president for social relations at the Central European Knowledge Center for Africa Business Studies, her main task is to establish, develop and promote scientific, higher education, vocational training, cultural and innovation cooperation among African countries and Hungary and Central European countries in line with the Hungarian government’s Opening to the South policy.