Former French Culture and Communication Minister Audrey Azoulay was on Friday elected the director general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the global cultural body announced. Fifty-eight members of the Unesco’s executive board had nominated her to the post in October.
Azoulay, who takes over from Irina Bokova, served as the cultural advisor to former French President Francois Hollande from 2014 to 2016, Unesco said. She was appointed the country’s culture and communication minister in 2016, and served in the post until May 2017.
The global cultural body said that Azouley in her mission statement had “outlined her future priorities as making Unesco a key player in sustainable development, ensuring the organisation remains an intellectual forum serving universal values, and continuing the organisation’s reform agenda to become more efficient for the benefit of all”.
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