Paris (AFP)

The Director General of Unesco, the French Audrey Azoulay, is virtually guaranteed to be re-elected for a second term in November because no other candidate has come forward and she enjoys strong support, we learned. Wednesday with his entourage.

No other candidate showed up before the deadline for submitting an application on Monday, and nearly 75% of the countries on the institution's executive board have already pledged to support it, according to a source close to him, adding that the The designation process will obviously come to an end in November, respecting the planned stages.

"This shows great confidence, great support from the majority of member states" and "all the conditions are in place for her to be re-elected", according to the latter.

"Massive and well-deserved support for the re-election of the DG (...) thanks to its results and its projects", tweeted for his part the Ethiopian ambassador to the United Nations Organization for education, science and the Henok Teferra Shawl culture.

Audrey Azoulay was elected in November 2017 for a first term, after having been Minister of Culture in the government of Socialist President François Hollande.

It is traditional for directors general to serve several terms.

Ms. Azoulay took office in a deteriorated context at Unesco, in particular due to the departure of the United States and Israel who accused the institution of pro-Palestinian bias, against a background of frontal questioning by Donald Trump of multilateralism of which Unesco is a representative.

"The tensions on the subjects in the Middle East which caused the departure of the United States and Israel have disappeared, which perhaps makes it possible to envisage their return within Unesco in the medium term", according to the entourage of the Director-General.

Unesco has also participated in several emblematic projects recently, such as the reconstruction of Mosul, aid for Lebanon's heritage after the explosion of the port of Beirut and actions in favor of education during the pandemic.

Ms. Azoulay is the only Frenchwoman at the head of a large United Nations organization.

© 2021 AFP