Beirut: Two Lebanese figures announced their candidacies for the key post of head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), although the nomination process proved — once again — to be interminable challenges.
Former Minister of Culture Ghassan Salameh announced his bid for the leadership of the Paris-based organisation last week, even if local media reports claimed that the move was not coordinated with Lebanese authorities, which must vet and endorse all such submissions. The other candidate, Vera Al Khoury-Lacoeuilhe, apparently lobbied in Beirut and, according to her testimony, secured support from Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Foreign Minister Jibran Bassil, and Culture Minister Rony Araiji.
According to media reports, Al Khoury-Lacoeuilhe visited Bkerke on March 20 to seek the support of Maronite Patriarch Mar Besharah Al Ra‘i.
Salameh, a son of Kfardebian and a professor of international relations at Sciences Po university (Paris), was minister of culture during 2000-2003.
He served as special adviser to the UN secretary-general and as the political adviser to the UN mission in Iraq. Well known in academic circles for several serious tomes, Salameh also served as the co-chairman of the board of the International Crisis Group and is the founding chairman of the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture.
Al Khoury-Lacoeuilhe currently lectures on international organisations at the Sorbonne Law School (Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne), according to the UN’s website and was appointed on February 24, 2016 to the Independent Team of Advisers within the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) looking at various development projects.
Nominating a Lebanese to succeed Irina Bokova, whose term ends in 2017, is urgent if the Arab community within the UN agency is to field a successful candidate. The only other Arab running for now is the former Culture Minister of Qatar, Hamad Al Kawari, although other countries may field contenders in due time.
In Beirut, the Salameh-Al Khoury-Lacoeuilhe competition received local attention when Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt voiced his support for Salameh and criticised the government bid to nominate Al Khoury-Lacoeuilhe, who “has landed from the Caribbean Sea sky” according to Jumblatt, on account of her credentials as representative of the Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia at Unesco. Al Khoury-Lacoeuilhe’s candidacy was apparently heavily lobbied by Nigeria-based, and well-connected, Lebanese businessman Gilbert Shaghouri.
