site.btaOctober 23, 2009: Irina Bokova Takes Oath of Office as UNESCO Director-General

On October 23, 2009, Bulgaria's Irina Bokova took the oath of office as UNESCO Director-General in Paris. She is the first woman elected to head the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since it was founded in 1945. She is also the first Director General from an East European country. This is the highest position a Bulgarian has ever held in a UN organization.
 
Bokova was designated as candidate by the UNESCO Executive Board on September 22, 2009. On October 15, the UNESCO General Conference elected her as the tenth Director-General of UNESCO.

Eight other candidates contested the job.

Having graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Bokova worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1977 and 1990. She was an MP of the Bulgarian Socialist Party in the Grand National Assembly (1990-1991), foreign minister between November 1996 and February 1997, and MP of the 39th Parliament (2001-2005). She was Permanent Representative to UNESCO from June 2005 and ambassador to France from July 2005. In addition to her mother tongue, she speaks English, Russian, French and Spanish.

Bokova was re-elected as UNESCO Director-General for a second four-year term in 2013.

Following are some highlights from BTA English Service's coverage of Irina Bokova's election as UNESCO Director General:

Sofia, September 23 (BTA) - UNESCO (...) needs to become more efficient and less bureaucratic, Ambassador Irina Bokova told the Bulgarian National Radio. She was designated by the members of UNESCO's Executive Board.

"I told the Egyptian delegation that I hope we would continue together because I have never believed into the idea of a clash of civilizations," Bokova said in a brief statement. Her major rival and expected winner was Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosny. However, his candidacy triggered strong opposition due to anti-Semitic statements and freedom of speech problems in his country.

During her term Mrs Bokova may rely on full support by France, according to a communique issued by the French Embassy in Sofia. Given that UNESCO is headquartered in France, this country attaches particular importance to the organization's values, it said.

Mrs Bokova's election as UNESCO Director-General is a high achievement not just for Bulgaria, the US Embassy in Sofia said in a press release. By this vote, the international community voted for the well-deserved prestige of the Bulgarian people for its humanism and love for peace: merits innate in a nation with an ancient culture.

Uri Resnick from Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told BTA that Bokova's election is a big achievement of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people in international politics and a recognition of the country's contribution to culture. Resnick, who was Israel's Deputy Head of Mission in Sofia, said Bulgaria has always been a country of humanism and tolerance and the election is a recognition not only for Bokova herself but also for the Bulgarian spirit. 

President Georgi Parvanov, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Culture Minister Vezhdi Rashidov congratulated Bokova.