Final Round Of Voting For Next UNESCO Chief

Two Candidates Vie In Final Round Of Voting For Next UNESCO Chief

New York, Sep 22 2009 11:10AM A fifth and final round of voting will take place later today to determine which of the remaining two candidates will be selected as the next Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Agency (UNESCO).

Irina Gueorguieva Bokova, Bulgaria’s former foreign minister and its current permanent delegate to UNESCO, and Farouk Hosny, Egypt’s current Culture Minister, are the only candidates left in the field after four, inconclusive rounds of voting since last Thursday.

The final round of voting will start about 6:30 p.m. local time in Paris, the headquarters of UNESCO and the site of the meeting of the agency’s 58-member Executive Board. Voting is by secret ballot and the winner is chosen by a simple majority of the board.

Seven other candidates were competing to be Director-General but have withdrawn from the race as the voting has progressed. They are Mohammed Bedjaoui (Algeria), Benita Ferrero-Waldner (Austria), Nouréini Tidjani-Serpos (Benin), Ivonne Juez de A. Baki (Ecuador), Ina Marciulionyte (Lithuania), Alexander Vladimirovich Yakovenko (Russia) and Sospeter Mwijarubi Muhongo (Tanzania). The person elected will serve an initial four-year term. The current Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura, ends his second term in November and is not eligible for another stint.

ENDS

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