Three Arabs Vie for UNESCO Top Post

Paris, MINA – The first round of elections for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) top post on Monday, includes three Arab candidates out of a total seven, KUNA reported.

UNESCO’S Executive Board meets later to discuss the agenda followed by the voting process to choose a director-general who will succeed Bulgarian Irina Bokova.
Qatar’s Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari, Egypt’s Mushira Khattab and Lebanon’s Vera El-Khouri Lacoeuilhe each need only 30 votes from 58 board members to win the prestigious post.

Pham Sanh Chau of Vietnam, Polad Bulbuloglu of Azerbaijan, Qian Tang of China and Audrey Azoulay of France are the remaining candidates.

Bokova, in 2009, edged her Egyptian rival, former culture minister Farouq Hosni, in a three-vote margin and maintained office in 2013.

Born on 12 July 1952 in Sofia (Bulgaria), she is the first woman and the first Eastern European to lead the Organization. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)