Khaled El-Enany, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), has spoke highly of China's support for multilateralism, intercultural dialogue and global cooperation, while expressing readiness to deepen UNESCO's partnership with China in areas including digital education and peace building.
El-Enany visited China's Hangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai from May 11 to 14, his fourth time in the country and first time as the UNESCO director-general.
In an interview with the China Media Group (CMG), El-Enany spoke positively about his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on May 12, saying their discussions focused on people, intercultural dialogue, the Global South and multilateralism.
"There were the focus of our exchange -- people. We are here to serve people. Peace in the minds of women and men. Intercultural dialogue [was another topic]. We have to learn from each other and to learn, we have to dialogue. We have to listen to each other, to know each other, to accept each other, and this is the spirit of UNESCO. [We also talked about] Global South. How we can support the Global South, how can reduce the divides between people. And multilateralism that we must defend," El-Enany said.
The UNESCO chief also highlighted digital education as a key for future cooperation between China and the organization.
"[We also talked about] some fields of new partnership, mainly on the field of digital education. This is very important part because while many parts of the world are really doing an exceptional advancement in the AI use, other are still behind," said El-Enany.
Speaking about his impression of Xi, El-Enany described the meeting as warm and sincere, saying he gained a deeper understanding of the Chinese president beyond his role as a political leader.
"I knew the politician, the great leader he is. But yesterday I discovered the human being behind. It was a very warm meeting. It was a very sincere exchange. I saw that he was speaking from his heart. It's a pure conviction that we need to dialogue, that we need to learn from each other. He was very keen to defend the multilateralism. He expressed clearly his support to UNESCO, to UNESCO's mandate in peace building and to bring people together. It was a very warm meeting. I learned a lot and I'm very determined to enhance now our partnership with China based on what was discussed with his excellence, Mr. President," said the UNESCO chief.
UNESCO chief praises China's support for multilateralism, intercultural dialogue, global cooperation
