New Unesco chief: France's Audrey Azoulay picked to lead embattled UN cultural agency
Audrey Azoulay will face difficult task of trying to persuade the United States and Israel to remain as members
Unesco’s executive board voted Friday to make a former French government minister the UN cultural agency’s next chief after an unusually heated election that was overshadowed by Middle East tensions.
The news rocked a weeklong election already marked by geopolitical resentments, concerns about the Paris-based agency’s dwindling funding and questions about its future purpose.
If confirmed by Unesco’s general assembly next month, Azoulay will succeed outgoing director general Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, whose eight-year term was marred by financial woes and criticism over Palestine’s inclusion in 2011 as a member state.
Azoulay narrowly beat Qatar’s Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari in the final 30-28 vote after she won a run-off with a third finalist from Egypt earlier Friday. The outcome was a blow for Arab states that have long wanted to lead the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.
Unesco has had European, Asian, African and American chiefs, but never one from an Arab country.