Paris: UNESCO's executive board on Friday chose former French Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay to be the U.N. cultural agency's next leader over a Qatari candidate in an unusually heated race overshadowed by Mideast tensions.
The US announcement this week that it's quitting UNESCO rocked the multi-day election and heightened concerns about the agency's funding and future direction.
Azoulay succeeds outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, whose eight-year term was marred by financial woes and criticism over Palestine's inclusion as a member. On Thursday, the U.S. and Israel said they plan to pull out of the Paris-based organisation over its perceived anti-Israel bias.
The 45-year-old took the stage to chants of "Audrey! Audrey!" following her victory and said the response to UNESCO's problems was to reform the agency, not to walk away — an understated rebuke of the U.S. and Israel.
"In this moment of crisis, I believe we must invest in UNESCO more than ever, look to support and reinforce it, and to reform it. And not leave it," she said.
In a short address, she also thanked "the Executive Board member states that gave me their trust" — in her surprise 30-28 vote win Friday over Qatari candidate Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari.
UNESCO's general assembly will have to sign off next month on the executive board's leadership pick, but it's seen as a formality.