Al Kawari wins first round vote for Unesco top job

HE Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kawari, Qatar’s candidate for the post of Director-General of Unesco, has won the first round of elections with 19 votes out of the total 58 votes.

Dr Al Kawari is competing with six candidates, including three Arabs to succeed the outgoing Director-General, Bulgarian, Irina Bokova.

The second round of voting will take place today.

The other seven candidates competing for the post are Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kawari from Qatar, Polad Bulbuloglu from Azerbaijan, Pham Sanh Chau from Vietnam, Qian Tang from China, Vera El-Khoury Lacoeuilhe from Lebanon, Audrey Azoulay from France and Moushira Khattab from Egypt.

The winner will be announced by October 13. Then the General Conference will elect the Executive Board at its 39th session on November 10, with the participation of the 195 member states. The new Director-General will assume office on November 15.

The Director-General is appointed for a period of four years, and may be appointed for a further term of four years, but shall not be eligible for reappointment for a subsequent term.