What is special about the first Vietnamese candidate for UNESCO Director General?

Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau - candidate for the position of UNESCO Director General - is known for his contribution to bringing Vietnamese heritage to the world.

Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau - The first Vietnamese to take the exam to become UNESCO Director General

The information that Vietnam’s representative – Mr. Pham Sanh Chau (Director of the Department of Culture and UNESCO under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) has been nominated as a candidate for the position of Director General of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) for the 2017-2021 term is currently receiving great public attention. This is the first time a Vietnamese diplomat has run for this position.

Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau (left). (Photo source: Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau's Facebook page).

After a 90-minute interview on the afternoon of April 27 in Paris (France), Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau announced that he had successfully entered the third round of the election.

On April 28, 2017, the ambassador shared that he will continue to participate in the secondary round: presenting the election platform in French in front of 70 member countries of the Francophone group.

There are 9 candidates running for the position of UNESCO Director General this time. The interview process for each candidate took place on April 26-27, in which Mr. Pham Sanh Chau was the 6th person to enter the competition.

The secret ballot to elect the new Director-General of UNESCO will be held in the first round (including 5 rounds) in October 2017 at the UNESCO Executive Board and the second round in November 2017 at the UNESCO General Conference. The term of office of the Director-General of UNESCO lasts for 4 years. The Director-General of UNESCO will manage a budget of 676 million USD, 2,500 staff of 200 nationalities and nearly 70 offices and centers of UNESCO.

Pham Sanh Chau - a dedicated cultural diplomat

Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau was born on September 19, 1961 in Myanmar, originally from Son Bang Commune, Huong Son District, Ha Tinh Province. He is the son of Ambassador Pham Ngoc Que, the first Consul General of Vietnam in Sri Lanka. He is fluent in English and French and served as an interpreter for many high-ranking Vietnamese leaders during the period 1986-1996.

On November 14, 2016, he was appointed Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs. Also in 2016, Mr. Pham Sanh Chau was appointed Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Vietnam on UNESCO issues.

Mr. Pham Sanh Chau began his diplomatic career in 1983 with the responsibility of monitoring the general activities of the United Nations and human rights issues. He was appointed by the State of Vietnam as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Vietnam to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Head of the Vietnamese Delegation to the European Union (2011-2014).

In 1999-2003, he was the youngest person to be appointed as Ambassador, Head of the Permanent Delegation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to UNESCO, Paris, Republic of France, and at the same time, was appointed by the State of Vietnam as Representative of the President of Vietnam to the Francophone Community (2000-2003).

Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau participated in drafting the 2003 Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage, served as Vice President of the UNESCO Executive Board in 2001 and Chairman of the drafting group of the 2005 Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

As Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Group of Ambassadors to UNESCO (2002), he participated in coordinating relations between member states and UNESCO and contributed to creating consensus for the practical implementation of UNESCO's ideas.

Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau is known as the person who brought Vietnam's heritage to the world. He is also the person who contributed to Vietnam having 6 World Biosphere Reserves. The Ambassador also made a great contribution to the journey to make Phong Nha - Ke Bang a world natural heritage. He was the one who proposed the idea for the Son Doong cave expedition with the participation of the delegation of ambassadors from various countries in 2016.

The project "Vietnamese cultural diplomacy through paintings", promoting our country's culture to the world by introducing paintings by Vietnamese artists at Vietnamese representative agencies abroad, is also the ambassador's idea.

Mr. Pham Sanh Chau and Ambassadors of other countries conquered Son Doong. (Photo on the Ambassador's personal Facebook page).

From 2007 to 2011 and from 2014 to 2016, he concurrently held the position of Secretary General of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO and Director of the Department of Cultural Affairs and UNESCO, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO is the coordinating body of 6 ministries and branches: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Education and Training, Ministry of Information and Communications, Ministry of Science and Technology and Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology. Mr. Pham Sanh Chau is a Vietnamese heritage expert, directly involved in the development of heritage dossiers.

He is both a manager of Vietnam in UNESCO's fields and a disseminator, a direct teacher, contributing to bringing UNESCO's great ideas on education, science, and information such as eliminating illiteracy, lifelong learning, learning society, promoting gender equality, joining hands for heritage, green growth model... into practice in Vietnam.

According to Kinthuc.net.vn