Egypt’s Moushira Khattab failed to secure enough votes for the position of Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). After a heated vote on Friday, it was announced that France’s Audrey Azoulay, a Jewish woman of Moroccan origin, would lead UNESCO. What happened? Controversy and surprise broke out across diplomatic circles after Qatar’s Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari gained the most votes in the first four rounds of voting. Al-Kawari, a former Qatari Minister for Culture, had been accused of promoting antisemitism and was strongly opposed by the Middle Eastern countries which recently cut ties with Doha. With the next Director-General needing 30 votes to win, multiple rounds of voting were held. Egypt’s Khattab and France’s Azoulay were tied in votes in the fourth round, forcing a run-off to see who would face Al-Kawari, who had consistently come in the top position. Khattab, however, managed to secure just 25 votes to Azoulay’s 31. Egypt immediately expressed its support for the French candidate and on a final vote Azoulay defeated Al-Kawari 30-28. Calls for an investigation Earlier this week, French media reported that Qatar had invited a number of members…
Egypt’s Moushira Khattab Fails to Win UNESCO Director-General Position
October 14, 2017
