New Election of UNESCO Director General in 2013

Current UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova has been nominated for a second term
Current UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova has been nominated for a second term

Irina Bokova, the current Director General of UNESCO, was elected to her current four year term in 2009. A new election will be held in 2013. The election should take place in October and November of 2013, based on the recommendation of the preceding Executive Board meeting. Nominations of candidates for the position must be made well in advance.

The previous four people to hold the office all served more than one term:

  • Koïchiro Matsuura, 1999-2009
  • Federico Mayor Zaragoza, 1987-1999
  • Amadou Mahtar M’Bow, 1974-1987
  • René Maheu (who previously served as Acting DG), 1962-1974

Novinite.com reported on September 24th that Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev has officially nominated Irina Bokova for a second term as Director General of UNESCO. However, it also reported on October 26th:

The former Bulgarian president, Geogi Parvanov, said on Thursday that the current Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, was the most suitable figure to lead the Bulgarian Left party (BSP).

Here is the Wikipedia entry for Director General Irina Bokova.

Amb. Rachah Farad has been nominated by Djibouti
Amb. Rachah Farad

Sabahionline.com reported on September 13th:

Djibouti has nominated Rachad Farah, its ambassador to France and permanent delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), to head the UN agency, Djibouti’s La Nation reported Thursday (September 13th).

Here is the Wikipedia entry for Ambassador Rachad Farah (in French).

About the Author

John Daly

John Daly is the former director of the USAID Office of Research and instructor at George Washington University on UNESCO. His professional background is in promoting the capacity for science and technology in developing nations, especially the applications of information and communications technology. He served as the acting Work Program Administrator of infoDev, and has been a consultant with the RAND Corporation, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and on the Research and Training Network of the Development Gateway. He served as Vice President of Americans for UNESCO from 2005-2012.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may also like these