Unesco

Bokova beats Hosni for Unesco top job

Article published on the 2009-09-23 Latest update 2009-09-23 09:06 TU

Irina Bokova.
(Photo: AFP)

Irina Bokova, a former Bulgarian Foreign Minister, was elected late Tuesday to become the first woman to head the UN’s culture body Unesco, after five rounds of voting that saw her beat out the supposed favourite, Farouk Hosni of Egypt. Hosni’s candidature drew heavy criticism after it came out that he had made several anti-Semitic comments in the past.

The vote by Unesco's 58-nation executive council gave 31 votes to Bokova and 27 to Hosni, officials said.

Bokova rejected claims that her election came down to a choice between West and East.

"I said to the Egyptian delegation that I hope that we will be together and that I never believed in the idea of a clash of civilisations," Bokova told reporters in Paris.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov praised the appointment. "This is really unexpected and a huge victory for a small country like Bulgaria."

Israel, which did not oppose Hosni's candidacy, praised Bokova for her victory.

"Israel welcomes the election and is convinced that fruitful co-operation with Unesco will continue and even be reinforced," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

A French Foreign Ministry statement said Bokova was "a woman of conviction" who has "international experience that will be particularly useful to fulfil Unesco's ambitious mandate".

But Egyptian writers' union leader Mohammed Salmawy slammed the result.

"The Jewish lobby has put a great deal of pressure and taken some statements made by the minister, put them out of context and made them political," he said.

Bokova will take over from Japan's Koichiro Matsuura after her appointment is endorsed next month by Unesco's 193-member assembly.

The multilingual 57-year-old, who helped draft her country's new constitution after the fall of communism, served briefly as Foreign Minister in 1996-1997 and has worked at UN headquarters in New York.