Egypt has nominated Former Minister of Population, Moushira Khattab, for the position of Secretary General to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Former Foreign Affairs Minister and electoral campaign manager for the Egyptian nominee, Mohamed al-Orabi, said that his country’s candidate has gained support from Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain in the race.
Khattab expects to undergo a fierce competition, with Qatar nominating their former Minister of Culture and royal adviser, Hamad al-Kuwari for the role as well. Kuwari has already received a great deal of support from the Gulf, with Yemen and Kuwait going so far as to withdraw their own candidates to avoid voting contention among Arabs.
Orabi said in a statement on Monday that Khattab is the nominee of the African continent, for the post.
The statement continued, to say that Khattab concluded a visit to the French capital Paris, during which she met with different permanent delegations within UNESCO from Arab and African countries with whom she discussed the plan to support her collectively. Orabi said that this meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.
He added that the Saudi permanent representative to UNESCO met with Khattab and some of her advisors at a working dinner that lasted for three hours, during which the two parties agreed on a joint promotion plan in the coming period along with contributions from the country.
Orabi thanked the KSA and its permanent representative for its constructive ideas presented to support the Khattab. He also thanked the UAE, Bahrain, all African countries and the African Union Commission for their strong enthusiasm to support Khattab’s candidacy and jointly promote it.
He pointed out that Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain have close relations with a large number of the member countries of the Executive Council of UNESCO, pointing out that their contributions to promote Khattab’s nomination represents a very important addition to the electoral campaign, in addition to the other efforts that have already started in Cairo and a number of African capitals.
For her part, Khattab expressed her thanks to the Saudi, Emirati and Bahraini officials for announcing their support for her candidacy, saying that this support, coupled with assurances from the highest levels to offer all possible contributions to support and promote her, is evidence of growing confidence in Egypt’s chances of winning the post, despite the difficult competition.
Edited Translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
