Thursday, 24 September 2009Irina Bokova, a former foreign minister for Bulgaria, has been selected to lead the United Nations Agency for Education, Culture and Science (UNESCO). The Bulgarian diplomat defeated the Egyptian culture minister in a close vote on Tuesday night and became the first woman to lead UNESCO. Bokova is an expert in arms control and the daughter of an influential family, who came of age during the cold war.
According to the agencies, Bokova won the fifth and final round of voting on Tuesday against Egypt's Farouk Hosni by 31 votes to 27.
Bokova joined Bulgaria's foreign ministry UN and disarmament department in 1976, becoming the country's foreign minister for a brief period in 1996-1997. Moreover, she has witnessed Bulgaria's transformation from a nation within the Eastern bloc to a European Union member, and will be the first person from the region to head UNESCO.
Anti-Semitism Allegations
Nine candidates were in the running for the senior job at UNESCO when the body's council began voting last Thursday. Delegates had been split over the two remaining candidates, with Hosni, Egypt's minister of culture, facing accusations that he is an anti-Semite.
Hosni was quoted last year as saying he would burn Hebrew-language books which led to concern amongst some observers.
Even though Hosni has insisted his comments were part of an angry exchange in parliament with politicians from the Muslim Brotherhood and were taken out of context, critics said that the book-burning comments made him unfit for the role.
Bokova Vows Reforms
During an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio, Irina Bokova said, "UNESCO needs reforms; some of them have already been started, so that it can become more efficient and less bureaucratic."
Bokova stressed that she would work to convince everyone that tolerance, dialogue, cultural and every other kind of diversity is a huge priority, "this is the basis of UNESCO values."
by Simge Soyer (JTW)
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Thursday, 24 September 2009
Journal of Turkish Weekly
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