Vietnamese candidate named in the vote for new UNESCO Director General

The candidate who gets at least 30 out of 58 votes will become the new Director-General of UNESCO.

Within the framework of the 202nd Session of the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) taking place in Paris, today, Monday (October 9), 58 member countries will vote by secret ballot to elect the Director-General of UNESCO.

The election will begin at the end of the session local time. The candidate who receives at least 30 out of 58 votes will become the new Director-General of UNESCO.

If a majority (30/58) is not achieved, subsequent rounds of voting will take place at the end of the next meeting day.

Vietnamese Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau is one of eight candidates for the position of UNESCO Director General. \(Photo: VNA)

There will be a maximum of 5 rounds of voting to choose the winning candidate. By the 4th round, if no candidate has received a majority, the Executive Board will select the 2 candidates with the highest number of votes to vote in the 5th round, the candidate with the highest number of votes will win.

In the event that these two candidates have an equal number of votes, the Chairman of the Executive Board will draw lots to select the winner.

The winning candidate will be nominated by the UNESCO Executive Board for consideration and approval by the UNESCO General Conference during its Session in November 2017.

Currently, there are 8 candidates running for the position of UNESCO Director General, including Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau of Vietnam.

As the first Vietnamese representative to run for the position of head of the world's largest organization on education, culture and science, during his candidacy and campaign, Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau promoted many good impressions of a dynamically developing Vietnam in terms of economy, uniqueness, diversity in culture and natural scenery.

Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau is also one of two candidates from the Asia-Pacific region, along with a candidate from China. In addition, this time, the candidacy for the position of UNESCO Director-General includes four candidates from Arabian countries, one candidate from France, and one from Azerbaijan.

The candidates are all well-known figures with experience and prestige in multilateral diplomacy and cultural cooperation, have leadership and management skills, and have held leadership positions domestically or at international organizations.

Historically, elections for the position of UNESCO Director-General have always witnessed great competition among candidates, as many countries have nominated their candidates and campaigned vigorously.

The current Director-General of UNESCO is Ms. Irina Bokova, a Bulgarian whose term ends in November 2017. In her first election for the 2009-2013 term, Ms. Bokova also had to go through 5 rounds of voting before defeating the candidate from Egypt to hold the position of Director-General of UNESCO./.

According to VOV