I have moved coverage of the 2013 election to Global Memo. You can read the posts to date and future posts on that site.
3/2/13
Recent press coverage
There are a number of recent articles in the world press dealing with the candidacy of Rachad Farah but relatively few dealing with that of current UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova. The coverage of DG Bokova is primarily concerned with her functions in the role of Director General.
Here are some of the recent articles:
Here are some of the recent articles:
- "Should Somali welcome the visit of Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova," Mareeg, 28/02/2013
- "Doctorat honoris causa à Irina Bokova," Lefil, 28 Février 2013
- "African, South American leaders backs Rachad Farah's bid for UNESCO Director General," Middle East Online, 2013-02-24
- "UNESCO must lead on HE, says Africa’s candidate for DG," Yojana Sharma, University World News, 23 February 2013
- "El candidato del Sur a la Unesco," Caribbean News, 13.02.2013
2/28/13
There Should Be Public Discussions Among Candidates
This year there will be an election to determine who will be the next Director General of UNESCO. The election is especially important because UNESCO has been experiencing a financial crisis and because its operations have been seriously criticized by some member states. The Director General in the 2014-2018 period will be expected to lead reforms to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the Organization, and possibly to lead in meeting a financial crisis while assuring the Organization continues to promote peace through its efforts in education, science, culture and communications.
The Constitution of UNESCO states:
One of the most important decisions of the Executive Board and the General Conference is the selection of the Director General of UNESCO. Yet the National Commissions in the past have had little or no opportunity to learn about the candidates for the office.
In the 2009 election, candidates were allowed 20 minutes to address the Executive Board and 30 minutes to answer questions, with no answer lasting more than 5 minutes. Moreover, the meeting in which this occurred was closed. There was no opportunity for members of national cooperating bodies to view the presentations. While candidates did publish vision statements on the Internet and while many of them visited capitals of member states or participated in UNESCO activities, they remained largely unknown to the members of the national commissions of UNESCO's member states.
The Executive Board will meet in April and will consider the procedures to be used in interviewing candidates this year. They will probably opt for an equally closed process.
I am informed that "a number of UN agencies hold more open discussion between candidates and the Board, even publishing the dialogue. The IMO and FAO elections in 2011 were done very well." I believe it is time for UNESCO to open its selection process in order to assure that the most qualified candidate is elected Director General. Importantly, the National Commissions should be empowered to carry out their duties of advising their representatives at UNESCO on the qualifications of the candidates.
I therefore suggest that several national commissions invite the candidates to participate in public discussions before the voting takes place. Since the working languages of UNESCO are French and English, I would suggest that the British and French national commissions invite the candidates to discussions for their members in their national languages:
In order to reduce costs, it might be useful to hold one or more other meetings in European venues, perhaps by the Dutch, German, Portuguese or Spanish national commissions.
Were there to be three discussions, given the mission of UNESCO, there might be one each on:
The Constitution of UNESCO states:
National Commissions or National Cooperating Bodies, where they exist, shall act in an advisory capacity to their respective delegations to the General Conference, to the representatives and alternates of their countries on the Executive Board and to their Governments in matters relating to the Organization....
One of the most important decisions of the Executive Board and the General Conference is the selection of the Director General of UNESCO. Yet the National Commissions in the past have had little or no opportunity to learn about the candidates for the office.
In the 2009 election, candidates were allowed 20 minutes to address the Executive Board and 30 minutes to answer questions, with no answer lasting more than 5 minutes. Moreover, the meeting in which this occurred was closed. There was no opportunity for members of national cooperating bodies to view the presentations. While candidates did publish vision statements on the Internet and while many of them visited capitals of member states or participated in UNESCO activities, they remained largely unknown to the members of the national commissions of UNESCO's member states.
The Executive Board will meet in April and will consider the procedures to be used in interviewing candidates this year. They will probably opt for an equally closed process.
I am informed that "a number of UN agencies hold more open discussion between candidates and the Board, even publishing the dialogue. The IMO and FAO elections in 2011 were done very well." I believe it is time for UNESCO to open its selection process in order to assure that the most qualified candidate is elected Director General. Importantly, the National Commissions should be empowered to carry out their duties of advising their representatives at UNESCO on the qualifications of the candidates.
I therefore suggest that several national commissions invite the candidates to participate in public discussions before the voting takes place. Since the working languages of UNESCO are French and English, I would suggest that the British and French national commissions invite the candidates to discussions for their members in their national languages:
In order to reduce costs, it might be useful to hold one or more other meetings in European venues, perhaps by the Dutch, German, Portuguese or Spanish national commissions.
Were there to be three discussions, given the mission of UNESCO, there might be one each on:
- Education
- Science and
- Culture
The hosting bodies would coordinate on the timing of the meetings. The hosting National Commission would decide on the format for the discussion and name one or more moderators. They would jointly issue invitations to the candidates.
The discussions should be streamed on the websites of the hosting national commissions. This is crucially important because in that way all national commissions could see the discussions, and the discussions could be shared widely with the educational, scientific and cultural communities that UNESCO serves.
2/26/13
This is a recent press release from Rachad Farah.
African and South American Heads of States agreed to support Farah's bid for UNESCO Director General.
The 3rd Africa-South America Summit held on 22 February 2013 in Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) supported the candidature of Rachad Farah, Djibouti's Ambassador to France, for the position of Director General of UNESCO. A motion of support adopted by the leaders from both continents agreed that they would work together in favour of Ambassador Farah's candidature.
This 3rd Africa and South American Summit convened by the African Union (AU) focused on "Strategies and mechanisms to strengthen South-South Cooperation". The core objective of this gathering of Heads of State and Governments was to improve the cooperation between the two continents, especially in the area of socio-economique development of African and South American Countries.
The ASA endorsement comes briefly after the African Union Heads of States supported Rachad Farah at the recent AU summit in Addis Abeba. This summit called for "a mobilisation of all countries on the Continent to support and strengthen Rachad Farah's campaign." Farah also received the support from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Only last week, the Community of Sahel States (CEN-SAD) endorsed Farah's candidature.
Note also these recent articles:
- "Q&A: Rachad Farah outlines his vision for UNESCO" by Yojana Sharma, SciDev.Net, 20 February 2013
- "Candidature de Djibouti à l’UNESCO - Les dix engagements de Rachad Farah" by La Nation via Djibnet, 20 February 2013
- "L’ambassadeur de Djibouti en France en visite à Berlin pour la promotion de sa candidature au poste de directeur général de l’UNESCO", RTO, 19 Février 2013
2/19/13
U.S. Diplomatic Cables on the 2009 Election of the UNESCO Director General
The Wikileaks publication of diplomatic cables from the USA provides new information on the election of the Director General of UNESCO in 2009. Among many cables, these seem quite interesting:
- UNESCO DIRECTOR GENERAL RACE, 24 Jun 2008
- DG CANDIDACY, 14 Nov 2008
- A/S HOOK'S MEETINGS WITH SENIOR UNESCO SECRETARIAT STAFF, 23 Dec 2008
- DIRECTOR GENERAL ELECTION: BRAZIL SEEKS VIEW OF THE NEW U.S. ADMINISTRATION, 12 Feb 2009
- UNESCO'S APRIL EXECUTIVE BOARD: DIRECTOR-GENERAL (DG) ELECTION PROCEDURES, 18 May 2009
- OFFICIAL LIST OF CANDIDATES FOR UNESCO DIRECTOR-GENERAL, 2 Jun 2009
- BOKOVA WINS JOB AS UNESCO DIRECTOR-GENERAL, 24 Sep 2009
2/13/13
More on the 2013 Election
Rachad Farah has had some important endorsements:
- "African Union backs Djiboutian Rachad Farah for UNESCO D-G post", AfriqueJet Actualité Afrique, 28/01/2013
- "Islamic Nations Try Again to Take Helm of UN Agency", CNSNews, November 30, 2012
Were all the nations belonging to the African Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to vote as a block then Farah would be a favorite for the election. However, in past elections for the UNESCO Director General countries have not always followed the endorsements of their regional bodies.
More:
- "Djibouti seeks Gabon support for UNESCO", Gabonews, undated but recent
- "Elections à l’UNESCO, Rachad Farah en tournée.", RTD, undated
- "Unesco, Rachad Farah, un Djiboutien en Lice," Jeune Afrique, 22/01/2013
- "Rachad Farah brigue la Direction de l’Unesco", Afrique Asie, 28/12/12
- "UNESCO head faces early leadership challenge", Yojana Sharma, SciDev.Net, Nov 23, 2012
The rules used for the election of the Director General in 2009 were relatively complex. I understand they are being reviewed and will possibly be modified for the election this year.
1/15/13
More on Rachad Farah
In December he sought the support of Ali Bongo Ondimba from Gabon for his candidacy.
"L’Ambassadeur djiboutien auprès de l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’Education, la Science et la Culture (UNESCO), Rachad Farah, a été reçu le mardi 18 décembre dernier à Libreville, par le Président gabonais, Ali Bongo Ondimba, en vue de « solliciter le soutien du Gabon à sa candidature » à la Direction Générale de l’UNESCO. Indique une source officielle."
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