Elected for the first time in 2017 at the end of a tight and striking election, the former Minister of Culture of François Hollande was this time alone in the running for this new mandate.
Le Monde with AFP
The former Minister of Culture of François Hollande Audrey Azoulay was re-elected, Tuesday, November 9, at a very large majority for a second four-year term at the head of UNESCO, the United Kingdom organization based in Paris who promotes the education, culture and preservation of heritage, announced the organization.
“I first want to say thank you from the bottom of the heart, for this confidence so clearly expressed,” reacted the Executive Director of the Organization, welcomed under the applause in the UNESCO hemicycle. And to emphasize “unity”, “support from all over the world” expressed “very early” for its person, a sign, according to her, of “mutual trust” within the institution.
“My sincere congratulations on behalf of all member states for your re-election,” said Santiago Irazabal Mourao, Permanent Ambassador of Brazil to UNESCO, which has become President of his General Conference.
Cafement Tensions
Elected for the first time in 2017 at the end of a tight election and rich in twists, M me Azoulay, was this time alone in the running for this new mandate. She got 155 votes for 165 voters (9 against, abstention). A satisfaction for M Azoulay which, upon his arrival, had prioritized the appeasement of tensions and divisions then the organization, to refocus her on his missions.
Under his leadership, the ultra-sensitive issues of the Middle East, like the Heritage of Jerusalem, have thus been the subject of upstream negotiations to avoid the pitfalls, left to adjourn them. To the point that the United States and Israel, gone by accusing UNESCO of anti-Israeli bias, would consider their return.
China’s growing involvement
For some, the reintegration of the United States would counterbalance the growing involvement of China, which became the first contributor to the regular budget of UNESCO (excluding specific projects). It pays 15.5% of this budget representing $ 535 million (€ 461.6 million) on 2020-2021, up 3% on Audrey Azoulay’s term of office, after fifteen years of stagnation or Deline, according to the UNESCO Secretariat.
Beijing has “filled the void left by the absence of the United States,” stressed in Foreign Policy American researcher Kristen Cordell, advisor to the USAID American Development Agency. Evoking partnerships between UNESCO and the Chinese Technology Giant Huawei, it also pointed to the Chinese proposal to welcome the International Education Office in Shanghai.
Today in Geneva, this specialized institute of UNESCO, at the financial burden of the host country, helps to develop educational content and methods, a task that some would be poorly conducted from a country under the Crule of the Communist Party and its censorship.
Reconciling the two Korea
But next to these felt battles, advances have been recorded on other fronts: Encouraged by UNESCO, the two Korea have come closer to request the inscription of the SSIRUM, a Korean sport practice where two wrestlers compete, with the intangible heritage of humanity. What was done in November 2018. Another ambition of M me Azoulay on the Korean Front: create a biosphere zone in the DMZ, the demilitarized area on the interceorean border, delivered to nature for decades .
One way for UNESCO to work to reconciliation, faithful to the objectives of an institution born in the aftermath of the Second World War to promote peace by respect for cultural diversity and international cooperation in the fields of Education, culture, sciences.