UNESCO SETS DIRECTOR-GENERAL ELECTION PROCEDURES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS FR 001945 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: UNESCO SCUL PREL SUBJECT: UNESCO SETS DIRECTOR-GENERAL ELECTION PROCEDURES REF: PARIS FR 1185 ¶1. UNESCO's Executive Board at its session ending October 21 established the procedures for electing Director-General Koichiro Matsuura's successor when the latter's term expires November 2009. The Board settled on the following steps: A) Immediately after the conclusion of the Board's autumn 2008 session, the Chairman of the Executive Board will send to member states "a letter (text in Para 3 below) inviting them to submit to him confidentially by 31 May 2009 at the latest, the names of candidates for the post of Director-General." B) Member states will be formally informed of the names of the candidates in June 2009. C) Candidates must submit to the Board by 1 August 2009 a 2000 word statement setting out their vision for UNESCO. D) Members will have the chance to interview candidates at the Executive Board's September 2009 session. E) The Executive Board at its September 2009 session will choose by secret ballot a candidate to recommend to the October 2009 General Conference. F) The General Conference will select the Director General at its October 2009 session. ¶2. Comment: There is still time for additional candidates to enter the race. Although Egypt's culture minister Farouq Husni and the UNESCO ambassadors of Bulgaria and Lithuania have all announced their intention to run (reftel),as of October 22, the race had not yet formally begun. In addition to the declared candidates mentioned above, we hear that Brazil is weighing the possibility of naming a candidate and that others in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Latin America may be considering doing so as well. There is no formal rule setting out which region should be entitled to have the next Director General. East Europeans point out that one of theirs has never held the post, and the Arabs claim it is their turn to have it. While Egypt succeeded in convincing Morocco to withdraw the candidacy of Morocco's UNESCO Ambassador, Aziza Benani, we are still hearing rumors that Algeria and Lebanon may be considering nominations. This mission continues to believe that it is in the U.S. interest to have as many candidates as possible enter the race. ¶3. Text of the Chairman of the Executive Board's letter seeking nomination: Begin Text. 24 October 2008 Sir/Madam, The General Conference, at its 33rd session, appointed Mr Koichiro Matsuura Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for a second term of office of four years from 15 November 2005 (33 C/Resolution 07). This term of office will therefore end on 14 November 2009. The provisions concerning the appointment of the Director-General, which appear in Article VI, paragraph 2, of the Constitution, are as follows: "2. The Director-General shall be nominated by the Executive Board and appointed by the General Conference for a period of four years, under such conditions as the Conference may approve. The Director-General may be appointed for a further term of four years but shall not be eligible for reappointment for a subsequent term. The Director-General shall be the chief administrative officer of the Organization." Further, the Rules of Procedure of the General Conference and the Rules of Procedure of the Executive Board contain provisions relating to this matter, which are reproduced in Annex A. To give effect to the above-mentioned constitutional provisions and regulations the Executive Board, at its 180th session (30 September-21 October 2008),instructed me forthwith to invite the Governments of all Member States to communicate to it confidentially the names and biographical details of women and men who could be considered as candidates for the post of Director-General. The Board will be very grateful if your Government is able to assist it in this connection by suggesting the names of persons, not necessarily restricted to nationals of your country, who might be considered to possess the necessary qualifications. As my predecessors have done before, in similar circumstances, I have the honour to recommend respectfully that the Governments of Member States take account of personal, professional and administrative qualities in the careers of candidates whom they wish to propose, which are likely to qualify them for the discharge of international duties at a high level. Vision, responsibility, objectivity, equanimity and ability to resist all pressure are foremost among these qualities. In doing so, Member States may be invited to recall UNESCO's mission most recently set out in document 34 C/4: "As a specialized agency of the United Nations, UNESCO contributes to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information." In facing the challenges of the new millennium, it is important to highlight the personal qualities required for the UNESCO Director-General. The point of departure is that the General Conference, in the interests of all Member States, should appoint the best person for the post who should have, inter alia, the following qualities: - leadership and proven administrative and management skills; - a strong commitment to all the objectives of the Organization; - a visionary and active approach to the role of UNESCO in the community of nations; - good knowledge of the United Nations system; - commitment to the highest moral and ethical standards; - strong communication skills so as to develop effective internal and external communication strategies, vision and objectives for the Organization; - understanding of, and sensitivity to civil society as an important UNESCO constituency. The above-mentioned qualities, which are not exhaustive and are referred to indicatively, reflect the duties and responsibilities of the Director-General as envisaged in Article VI of UNESCO's Constitution. It should be noted that, according to the Constitution, "the responsibilities of the Director-General and of the staff shall be exclusively international in character. In the discharge of their duties they shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any authority external to the Organization. They shall refrain from any action which might prejudice their positions as international officials. Each State Member of the Organization undertakes to respect the international character of the responsibilities of the Director-General and the staff, and not to seek to influence them in the discharge of their duties". Attached for your information is a draft contract based on the contract approved by the General Conference in 33 C/Resolution 07 at the time of the appointment of Mr Koichiro Matsuura (Annex B). The Executive Board may amend this draft contract before submitting it to the General Conference, which is obviously at liberty to modify the conditions thereof. The seat of the Organization is in Paris and the two working languages of the Secretariat are English and French. It is intended to continue the procedure established in 1999 when the Executive Board introduced interviews of candidates into the procedure for the nomination of the Director-General. The Executive Board has suggested the following procedure: - each candidate may make a presentation of his/her vision of UNESCO, followed by a question-and-answer session with the Board members. Details of the duration and format of the interview will be made available in due course. The Executive Board attaches the utmost importance to the nominations made by Governments being treated as strictly confidential. For this reason, they should be sent, under registered cover marked "Personal and confidential", to the Chair of the Executive Board, at the following address: UNESCO, 7 place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP. To enable them to be better known by the Board and to give them the opportunity to set out their vision for UNESCO, I will invite the candidates to submit to the Executive Board, no later than 1 August 2009, a text not exceeding 2,000 words, in any of the six working languages of the Executive Board (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish). Furthermore, the Board will interview all the candidates in English or French at its 182nd session, to be held in September 2009. In the opinion of the Executive Board, the Member States' replies must reach me at the latest by 31 May 2009, so that I could make a public statement on these candidatures no later than 8 June 2009. No candidatures will be accepted beyond the deadline of 31 May ¶2009. Accept, Sir/Madam, the assurances of my highest consideration. Olabiyi Babalola Joseph Yai cc: Permanent Delegations to UNESCO Executive Board Members National Commissions End Text. ENGELKEN