Paris(VNA) – Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau, assistant to the Foreign Minister, presentedhis action plan as a candidate for the post of UNESCO General-Director to theExecutive Board of UNESCO and ambassadors of the organisation’s membercountries on April 27.

He is one of the nine candidates for the top postat UNESCO. They presented their action plans on April 26-27 as part of the201st session of the UNESCO Executive Board in Paris from April 19 to May 4.

In his action plan, Chau put forth threemessages on UNESCO’s vision along with reforms to improve the organisation.

Chau said UNESCO should continue its mission ofcontributing to peace and should press on with reforms to operate moreeffectively and dynamically, better its cooperation, and reposition its statureamong UN organisations.

The ambassador also said UNESCO needs bettercommunication activities to show the world that the organisation not onlyfocuses on cultural and education issues but is also strong in natural andsocial sciences, and that it is resolved to coordinate with countries to buildan information society where everyone has the right to access information.

Following the presentation, Chau answeredquestions from the Executive Board on how he would deal with challenges facingUNESCO, such as limited funds and solutions to enhancing cooperation anddialogue among members.

Talking to media after the interview, he said heis proud to be nominated by the Party and State as a candidate for the post ofUNESCO Director-General. This is the first time Vietnam has proposed a nomineefor the position.

During his presentation, Chau also introducedVietnam’s history, socio-economic accomplishments, and foreign policy ofindependence, autonomy, and diversification and multilateralisation ofrelations.

UNESCO has a new process for selectingDirector-General this year. Instead of closed interviews, representatives ofdiplomatic corps are allowed to attend the hearings, which are also broadcastlive. Hearings have been extended from 60 minutes to 90 minutes.

The UNESCO Executive Board will choose thecandidate for the top position by secret ballot at the 202nd session inOctober. This candidate will then be introduced to the 39th UNESCO GeneralConference in November for approval.

The tenure of incumbent UNESCO Director-GeneralIrina Bokova will end in November.-VNA