Koïchiro Matsuura appointed to a second term as Director-General of UNESCO

Read the UNESCO announcement.

"Koichiro Matsuura was re-elected as Director-General of UNESCO by the Organization’s General Conference and is to take office in a ceremony on October 21. He was first elected in 1999 to a six-year term. This time he will serve for four years, following a reform instituted by the 29th session of the General Conference. Mr Matsuura was born in 1937 in Tokyo. He studied law at the University of Tokyo and economics at Haverford College (Pennsylvania, U.S.A.) and began his diplomatic career in 1959. Posts held by Mr Matsuura include those of Director-General of the Economic Co-operation Bureau of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1988); Director-General of the North American Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1990); and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs (1992-1994). He was Japan’s Ambassador to France from 1994 to 1999. After one year as the Chairperson of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, he became UNESCO’s ninth Director-General on November 12, 1999."

There will be a live Webcast - Friday 21 October - of the Ceremony for the installation of the Director-General. It will take place from 10 a.m to 1 p.m. (GMT+1), and will include a performance by Chico Bouchikhi (founder of Gipsy Kings), UNESCO Artist for Peace. The site for the live webcast is:

http://www.unesco.org/confgen/webcast