An Arab woman in UNESCO race

Moushira Khattab says it is important for such a personality to head world body

Ambassador Moushira Khattab of UNESCO, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The next UNESCO chief should be an Arab and a woman, says Moushira Khattab, Egypt’s candidate for the post of Director-General of the U.N.’s scientific and cultural body UNESCO. Dr. Khattab canvassed support from India this week for a keenly contested race.

Democratic principles

“The Arab world is the one bloc at the U.N. that has never had the opportunity to lead UNESCO. The Arab world deserves that, if you go by principles of democracy and representation,” Dr. Khattab told

The Hindu in an interview here.

“And having an Arab woman is very important …We need to change the perception of Arab women as oppressed and deprived of their human rights,” added the former diplomat and Minister for Population and Family Welfare, who spearheaded a campaign to criminalise female genital mutilation (FGM) in Egypt.

“Egypt is the country with the highest rate of decline in FGM, and it is one of our success stories. It was taboo to even talk about FGM at one time, and since 2003, we worked on a worldwide effort to stop the practice head-on,” Dr. Khattab said. She said the status of women, protecting heritage sites from the IS and other terrorist groups, and education to counter radicalism would be important objectives for the next UNESCO chief.

Officials say India is still mulling over its choices, as the External Affairs Ministry prepares for visits from most if not all nine candidates for the UNESCO top job, for which elections are due in October.

Saudi-Qatar rift

While the post was expected to go to someone from the Arab nations that have never held the position, the race has been complicated by the fact that the bloc could not decide on a single candidate; Dr. Khattab now faces three Arab rivals, including senior diplomats and officials from Qatar, Lebanon and Iraq. The recent flare-up between Qatar and Egypt, which followed Saudi Arabia in cutting off diplomatic ties and banning flights, is likely to embitter the contest.

Conceding the difficulties, Dr. Khattab said she would have “wished for one single candidate from the Arab world as an act of unity”, but that eventually the vote should be about the candidate, not geopolitics.

The importance of this year’s UNESCO elections, held once every four years, can be gauged from the fact that among the other candidates are two permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, China and France. Other candidates in the fray are from Vietnam, Azerbaijan and Guatemala, all of which are expected to make strong pitches in New Delhi.