Pakistan has been re-elected as a member for the executive board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) with a clean slate, a press release issued by the Pakistan Embassy in Paris.
The other countries elected from the Asia-Pacific Group are Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, Papua New Guinea and Afghanistan.
Pakistan secured 156 votes out of a total of 186. Five countries abstained, while twenty-five votes were declared invalid. No vote was cast against Pakistan, the press release said.
Pakistan’s re-election to the membership of UNESCO’s Executive Board is being considered historic because the country took fifty more votes than the number of votes it secured during its last election in 2007.
It is the highest number of votes Pakistan has secured since 1999. This year Pakistan was able to secure Arab votes because of its active and effective role in advocating Palestine’s membership to UNESCO.
The strong and effective representation of Pakistan by Begum Shahnaz Wazir Ali, chairperson of UNESCO Programmes and External Relations Committee, also greatly helped to secure more votes. The Pakistani Embassy in Paris also extensively lobbied for the country before the elections.
