Audrey Azoulay elected Director General of UNESCO

If confirmed by UNESCO's 195-member General Assembly next month, Azoulay will succeed outgoing Director General Irina Bokova of Bulgaria.

Ms. Azoulay narrowly beat Qatar’s Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari in the final 30-28 vote after she won a run-off with a third finalist from Egypt o October 13th.

Born in 1972 in Paris to a Moroccan Jewish family, Audrey Azoulay is the daughter of Andre Azoulay, who served as an advisor to King Hassan II and now to King Mohammed VI.

Audrey Azoulay was French President Francois Hollande’s cultural advisor before she was appointed as Minister of Culture in 2014.

Initially, representatives of nine nations ran for UNESCO Director General but Guatemala and Iraq withdrew their applications before the voting. Later on, Azerbaijan also withdrew its candidate. The move was followed by Vietnam, China, and Lebanon.

Egypt’s candidate fell out of the race before the final voting, after losing to the French politician in an interim round./.