FM leaves for France to garner up support for Khattab

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry headed for Paris on Thursday for talks with representatives of the member states of the UNESCO Executive Council on Egypt's candidate for the UNESCO Director-General post Moushira Khattab. 

In statements on Thursday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said Shoukry's visit to Paris falls within the framework of the Foreign Ministry's keenness on intensifying efforts and contacts to back Khattab's nomination for the top UNESCO post ahead of the voting process, set for Monday.

Shoukry is scheduled to meet permanent delegates, who are members of the African Group at the UNESCO Executive Board, with Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat attending, to crystallize a unified African stance towards Khattab's nomination, the spokesman said.

During his visit to France, Shoukry will have talks with French Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian on bilateral ties and the latest regional developments, Abu Zeid added. 

The UNESCO headquarters in Paris on October 9 will see elections for the organization’s top post of director-general, with eight candidates competing to succeed the Bulgarian Irina Bokova after the withdrawal of the Guatemalan candidate.

The eight candidates are: Moshira Khattab from Egypt, Vera El Khoury from Lebanon, Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al Kawari from Qatar, the French Audrey Azoulay, Chinese Qian Tang, Polad Bülbüloğlu of Azerbaijan, Pham Sanh Chau of Vietnam, and Saleh Mahdi Al Hasnawi of Iraq.

Fifty-eight members of the UNESCO Executive Council will hold meetings from October 4 to 18 at the UNESCO headquarters under the chairmanship of Michael Worbs, Germany’s ambassador to UNESCO, to choose the candidate.

The person to be nominated by the Executive Board will be chosen by secret ballot, during a vote that will take place during the board’s 202nd session in October 2017.

Subsequently, the Chairperson of the Board shall inform the General Conference, during its 39th session in November 2017, of the candidate nominated by the Board.

Source: MENA