Al-Anany’s candidacy was supported in a secret ballot by delegates to the UNESCO General Conference, with 172 out of a possible 175 votes.

The 43rd Conference of the important international organization is being held in the historic Uzbek city of Samarkand from October 30 to November 13, and for the first time since 1985 outside the organization’s headquarters in Paris.

One of the Conference’s many issues is precisely the election of a new Director-General.

In early October, the UNESCO Executive Board approved Al-Anany as one of the candidates to head the organization, after receiving 55 of the 57 possible votes.

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