Bogyay told the Hungarian News Agency in an interview that her two-year appointment was ?a great honour and a tremendous responsibility.? She said she had been contacted by several UNESCO ambassadors last year and was asked if she would accept the appointment. The official candidacy was then submitted by the Hungarian government, with full support by the Central and Eastern European regional group. The decision of the Executive Council was unanimously supported by the other four election groups. Each group is allowed a candidate for president of the general meeting every 12 years.
?I am personally very pleased that I have been put in charge of something I have believed in all my life, which is cultural diplomacy,? the new president said. International cooperation in education, culture and communication is increasingly recognised around the world, since leading politicians have increasingly realised that situations that seem impossible to resolve through traditional diplomacy become manageable with the help of cultural diplomacy, she added.
She noted that the membership application of Palestine, which is supported by the UNESCO Executive Council and which will need to be assessed by the general meeting she will head, also proves that cultural diplomacy is able to start serious political processes. ?The entire world is looking at UNESCO now,? she added.
Bogyay has thirty years of international experience in cultural diplomacy to draw on in her new role. While living in London as an independent television journalist in 1998-99, she said she headed UNESCO?s international communication campaign connected to the first World Science Conference in Budapest. This large-scale event has since been held with the participation of UNESCO in the Hungarian capital every two years. She added that during her two years as ambassador, she intensively and successfully represented UNESCO?s mission in international cooperation projects.
Bogyay studied in Budapest and London and started her career as a theatre and music critic. She has worked as an independent television producer in London and as presenter, producer and editor of music and the arts at Hungary?s National Television. Bogyay has made documentary films and published several books. She entered public service in the Hungarian Ministry of Culture in 1999, when she became the director of the Hungarian Cultural Centre in London. Between June 2006 and April 2009, she was international state secretary of the Ministry of Education and Culture. In this capacity, she oversaw the work of Hungarian UNESCO. She was one of the vice presidents of the 35th session of the General Conference, then president of the Central and Eastern European regional election group and this year the president of the EU group.
As a television journalist and cultural diplomat, she said she always sought ways to find how Hungarian culture could function as a bridge to other cultures. She believed the key to her success within UNESCO was that even when representing Hungarian interests she was trying to find how different cultures could inspire each other and enrich each other. She is dedicated to intercultural dialogue.
This will be the second time that Hungary provides a president for the UNESCO general conference session. Deputy minister of education Magda Joboru, former chief director of the National Széchényi Library, fulfilled the role between 1974 and 1976.
Bogyay said it was a ?historic moment? that three Eastern European women would be heading the 36th session. The organisation?s Director-General, Irina Bokova, is from Bulgaria, and the head of the Executive Council, Eleonora Mitrofanova, is from Russia.
The UNESCO General Conference is the organisation?s highest decision-making forum which meets every two years for three weeks. The 193 member states decide on the organisation?s main programmes and budget, elect members of the Executive Councils and the intergovernmental committees, and also take decisions on anniversaries, such as the current international Liszt year. The president?s tasks include ensuring impartiality and that regulations are kept, and in the following two years, the representation of UNESCO?s system of values and philosophy in the world.
Bogyay will also keep her post as Hungary?s UNESCO ambassador. She is not entitled to extra remuneration for her tasks as president.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI) / Photo: MTI
