Now Kenya reclaims slot at Unesco

Kenya has been elected to the executive board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).

This is the fifth time that Kenya is being elected to the position since 1964, when it joined Unesco.

Kenya landed the slot during Thursday’s elections at the 38th Session of the Unesco General Conference at the organisation’s headquarters in Paris, France.

Kenya will serve for four years.

This came just days after Kenya had unanimously been elected vice-president for Africa during the 5th Session of the Conference of Parties to the International Convention against Doping in Sport at Unesco on October 29 and 30.

The board is a powerful decision-making organ consisting of 58 member states whose work is to examine the programme and budget of Unesco and provides guidance on their implementation.

It is also responsible for interviewing and nominating candidates for the position of director-general.

A statement to newsrooms yesterday said Kenya was elected in a competitive process that involved 11 African countries.

Other African countries that took various other seats include Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa.

One of the achievements the country has made while occupying this prestigious seat is upgrading of the Unesco office in Nairobi into a multisectoral regional office for the Eastern Africa region.

The office serves 13 countries.