Koïchiro Matsuura Re-elected to Head UNESCO Este elemento no está disponible en Español.Está disponible actualmente en Inglés, Francés. 12-10-2005 - The 33rd session of the General Conference, on October 12, re-elected Koïchiro Matsuura to head UNESCO for a second four-year mandate. Of the 180 countries with voting rights, 163 participated in the vote. The Director-General was elected with 151 votes in favour, 3 against and 9 abstentions or blank ballots.

Once the results announced, Koïchiro Matsuura said he was “deeply moved and proud of this expression of the Member States’ continued confidence in me”. He assured them of his “determination to continue the efforts undertaken over six years to make UNESCO an organization that is more and more effective and relevant to the needs of a constantly evolving world”. Mr. Matsuura also thanked the members of the Secretariat and his closest collaborators whom “for the past six years have shown their devotion”. He also asked the Member States to continue their support for the reform process, “I need you,” he said.

In the morning, before the ballot, the general policy debate ended with the response of the Director-General to the 10 days of speeches, during which 8 heads of state or government and 188 orators (of which 127 ministers) took the floor.

After reviewing the main points of the general policy debate and drawing the lessons from the proposals made by the different speakers (the full text of the Director-General’s response is available on the web site of the General Conference [1]), Mr. Matsuura laid the foundation of his vision for the future of UNESCO. He said that “2005 is, to me, a key year because it marks the end of a series of reforms presented in 2000 and whose final measures are now being implemented. Today, we have a coherent body of personnel policies, a complete chart for delegating authority, an integrated programme, budget and financial information system, and a more efficient internal monitoring system. The review of the new decentralization strategy ends the first cycle in the restructuring of the Organization...What remains to be done is to make the qualitative leap which will allow this new vision of the Organization to truly function, as would a network whose different components are complementary and which mutually reinforce each other”.

On October 21, during the official inauguration ceremony, the Director-General will take the opportunity to present a detailed programme for the next four years.

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Fuente	Flash Info n°176-2005