No front-runner for the top post has appeared, although member states may nominate candidates through the end of this month. The 50-member Executive Board then must select a single candidate to propose to the General Conference in November.
Director-General Amadou M'Bow of Senegal announced in November that he would not seek a third five-year term. His recent decision to bring suit against a French magazine that described him as a "megalomaniacal despot" has virtually removed all possibility of his staying in the post.
The UNESCO contest will set the pace for a flurry of elections in the United Nations system. Political maneuverings and bargaining will determine by early next year who emerges at the helm of four other U.N. organizations—the Food and Agricultural Organization, the World Health Organization, the International Labor Organization and the United Nations Environmental Program.
Some of UNESCO's problems are related to the withdrawal within the past ...
