Moushira Khattab has growing opportunity to win UNESCO post: Higher Education Min.

CAIRO – 9 October 2017: Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar stressed the necessity to preserve the unified stance of African countries in supporting Moushira Khattab to win the position of UNESCO director-general.

This comes in the aftermath of his participation in the coordinating meeting held by the African group in UNESCO to announce their support for Egypt’s nominee, Moushira Khattab, for the top post at the U.N. cultural organization.

“Khattab has a great chance to win the election, particularly that she is the most qualified candidate and has a clear vision for the UNESCO post, proved in the developing file she introduced.”

UNESCO members should be committed to what was agreed in the meeting to nominate a qualified person for the post, added Abdel- Ghaffar.

The meeting was attended by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Abdel-Ghaffar and Moussa Faqih, head of the African Union Commission, as well as Sierra Leone Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations Samura Kamara.

It took place at the headquarters of the UNESCO in Paris, hours ahead of the elections’ first round that is set to kick off at 5:00 p.m. Monday.

Egypt and Africa’s nominee for UNESCO’s director-general post presented her vision of encompassing all UNESCO’s goals and restoring UNESCO to its normal state, in an exclusive interview with Egypt Today.

Khattab highlighted during the interview that the most important goal of UNESCO that she wants to focus on, if she wins the post, is giving education special attention.

“Education is the key tool for fighting terrorism in the media; mosque sheikhs and church priests who represent one and the same front must believe in accepting the other and teach that belief to others.”