(Photo by UNESCO/Fabrice Gentile)
Mr Amr was born in Cairo in 1966. He holds a Ph. D in International Law from the London School of Economics and a Master’s degree in Public and Private Law from Cairo University. A fluent speaker of Arabic, English and French, he is the author of numerous publications on matters of International Law, and led a distinguished academic career as a Professor of Public International Law at Cairo University.
Mr Amr has been closely connected to UNESCO since 2000, representing Egypt on a number of international committees and in negotiations concerning several UNESCO Conventions, notably those concerning Underwater Cultural Heritage, Intangible Cultural Heritage, Doping in Sport and the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
The Executive Board’s 58 members, elected by the General Conference, meet twice a year. The Executive Board oversees the implementation of the programmes adopted by the General Conference, UNESCO’s supreme governing body, which ended its 37th session at UNESCO on Wednesday 20 November.
According to State Information Services, the vote was won by a sweeping majority of 55 out of 56 votes. The win comes only one week after Egypt was able to score a member seat. In addition, members of the Islamic Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) have elected Egypt to be coordinator of the Islamic World Heritage Committee (IWHC). The selection came during the ISESCO’s fourth annual session, held in Yemen.
