Ambassador Irina Bokova presents candidature for UNESCO director general in Belgrade

Source: Focus News Agency

Bulgaria’s ambassador to France, Irina Bokova, has presented her candidature for the position of UNESCO director-general according to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry press office.

Photo via Radio Bulgaria

Earlier, Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov had announced her nomination in the following terms:

I avail myself the opportunity to inform you about the decision of the Bulgarian government to nominate Mrs. Irina Bokova – Bulgarian ambassador in France and Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to UNESCO, for Director General of UNESCO.

As a career diplomat in UN, UNESCO and a number of other international organizations ambassador Bokova has intense experience in the area of multilateral international relations. As Deputy Foreign Minister, as State Secretary and Minister of Foreign Affairs she has a longlasting managerial experience. She is skilled to held a dialogue and to reach a consensus for taking decisions at the highest level. I would like to express our hope that the countries from South Eastern Europe will support the nomination of Mrs. Bokova and I believe that she will contribute creatively for the promotion and strengthening the role of UNESCO in the area of education, science, culture and communication.

Languages matter!

To mark the close of the International Year of Languages, UNESCO and the United Nations Department of Public Information organized a seminar at UN Headquarters in New York 17 and 18 December.

On 16 May 2007, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2008 to be the International Year of Languages. As language issues are central to UNESCO’s mandate in education, science, social and human sciences, culture, and communication and information, the Organization has been named the lead agency for this event.

To facilitate partnership and monitoring, a communication tool kit is available, as well as a list of possible fields of action and a list of the projects currently undertaken in the framework of the International Year of Languages.

Global education digest 2008:

comparing education statistics around the world
UNESCO Institute of Statistics, 2008
(PDF, 294 pages)

This edition of the Global Education Digest presents a new set of historical time series data, which has never before been published. The data set includes 15 indicators essential to tracking longterm
progress from 1970 to 2006. The Digest has been expanded featuring more indicators and more statistical tables.

Finally, the Digest presents an overview of the inner workings of the UIS with the aim of providing greater transparency on how international education statistics are collected, processed and reported.