Vietnam candidate wins more votes for UNESCO General-Director post

Diplomat Pham Sanh Chau, Vietnamese candidate for the post UNESCO General-Director

With this outcome, Vietnam’s candidate now has a total of five votes, equal to Qian Tang from China, while Lebanon’s Vera El Khoury has three votes and Azerbaijani candidate Polad Bulbuloglu withdrew from the second round of voting.

The Qatari candidate, Hammad bin Al-Kawari, continued to lead on 20, followed by France’s Audrey Azoulay with 13 and Egypt’s Moushira Khattab on 12.

The third round of the voting will be held at the end of the UNESCO Executive Board’s meeting on October 11.

Vietnam’s candidacy for the post of UNESCO Director-General demonstrates the country’s sense of responsibility to the international community.

This is the first time Vietnam has a candidate running for a leading position of a major UN agency. The election campaign has helped the country enhance its position in the international arena while strengthening cooperation with other countries.

Chau has campaigned at more than 30 member countries of the UNESCO Executive Board, during which he introduced Vietnam’s history and culture, together with achievements of the Doi Moi (renewal) process and potential for international cooperation.

Vietnam marked its 40 years of joining UNESCO on June 15 this year.

UNESCO has helped the country access knowledge, technology and global funding to contribute to national construction, as well as fine-tuning laws, Party and State policies and guidelines.