Audrey Azoulay Appointed as Director-General of UNESCO

The General Conference of UNESCO has appointed Audrey Azoulay (France) to the post of Director-General of the Organization. Ms Azoulay was nominated on 13 October to take the place of outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova (Bulgaria) by UNESCO’s Executive Board.

The President of the 39th session of the General Conference Zohour Alaoui, congratulated the new Director-General at the end of a vote that endorsed the choice of the Executive Board.

“I now think of all the people I met in recent months, or had met in my various professional capacities, who have great expectations from UNESCO,” declared Ms Azoulay to the General Conference.

“I think of UNESCO’s mandate, which is strikingly modern. I think of all of you who are aware of the difficulties of the Organization but who know that it is irreplaceable, that it is essential, in facing current global challenges and who aspire to the unity and serenity necessary to let it exercise its mandate to best effect.”

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Born in 1972, Ms Azoulay was France’s Minister of Culture and Communication from February 2016 to May 2017. She has occupied senior positions in France’s public broadcasting sector and then served as rapporteur to France’s public auditing authority, the Cour des comptes, and as a European Commission legislative expert on issues of culture and the media.

Ms Azoulay served France’s National Cinema Centre (CNC), first as Deputy Audiovisual Director, then as Director of Financial and Legal Affairs, and finally as Deputy Director-General.

She is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration and the Paris Institut d’études politiques. Ms Azoulay also holds a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Lancaster (UK).

Ms Azoulay is the 11th Director-General of UNESCO and the second woman to occupy this position. She will take office on 15 November.