A third candidate has recently been nominated for the post of UNESCO Director-General in addition to incumbent Irina Bokova and Djibouti’s nominee Rachad Farah.
He is Joseph Maila, who is currently the Director of the Centre de Recherche pour la Paix (CRP) of the Institute Catholique de Paris. A native of Lebanon, he was nominated by the government of Lebanon. He has participated from time to time in UNESCO events, including in the Roundtable on Democracy and Renewal in the Arab World in 2011 and the Dialog of Cultures for Peace in 2003.
The nominations should now be closed.
In the meantime, the press continues to focus coverage of the election on Djibouti’s nominee, Rachad Farah. Here are some recent articles:
- “Unesco: Rachad Farah, un Djibutien en lice,” Juene Afrique, 22/01/2013.
- “Arab League endorses Rachad Farah bid for UNESCO Director General<.a<,” Mareeg, 7 March 2013.
- “La Ligue Arabe soutient la candidature de Rachad Farah à la Direction Générale de l’UNESCO,” Atlas Info., 20 Mars 2013.
- “Unesco : Irina Bokova compte sur l’Afrique pour assurer sa réélection,” Afrique Education, Numéro 363 (16 au 31 mars 2013)
- Unfortunately, this article does not seem available for download. It suggests that current UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova has made decisions that are unpopular with some African leaders, and as a result will have difficulty obtaining African votes.
- “La candidature de Djibouti pour diriger l’Unesco? Une «indécence»,” Mediapart, 08 avril 2013.
- “Unesco: la France soutient Bokova,” La Figero, 16/04/2013
- “Rachad Farah en tournée en Asie dans le cadre de sa candidature à la direction de l’UNESCO,” Agence Djiboutienne d’information 07/05/2013
Photo credit: Jean-Christophe MARMARA/Le Figaro; Tom Heneghan/Reuters
