Irony Example No. 436: Oppressive Egyptian regime puts forth election candidate for head of the UN’s ‘Cultural’ agency

They often say that one of the best ways to re-enforce the learning of a new skill is to teach it to others as you go.
Perhaps that’s the thinking behind Egypt’s oppressive el-Sissi regime putting forth a candidate for the head of UNESCO, the UN’s cultural agency.
The issue isn’t that Egypt is trying to teach the world something it’s still trying to master but that it’s attempting to teach something that it’s been coming bottom of the class of for decades.
UNESCO is the acronym for the ‘United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organisation’. Egypt has been flunking each of those subjects, without much hope for improvement, for the past several decades.
Changing of the guard
UNESCO has an election coming up in October. After two terms and eight years, Irina Bokova, current Director-General of UNESCO is stepping down.
Along with eight other nations, Egypt has put forth a candidate for the post, Moushira Khattab. Khattab is a former politician and diplomat, she held positions such as the Minister of Family & Population for Egypt and served as ambassador to South Africa.

What’s worrying is that Khattab has been nominated by Egpyt’s ruthless el-Sissi regime. The government, led by President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi assumed power in 2014 as a result of the military coup that removed the previous President Mohammed Morsi (of Muslim Brotherhood fame). The coup was a response to the June 2013 protests.
A quick refresher:
“On July 3rd 2013, Egypt witnessed the overthrow of its first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, in a military coup.
The Muslim Brotherhood member had been in office for just a year when army chief, General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, announced his overthrow on state television, along with the suspension of the constitution and the installment of an interim government.
The military said it was responding to the people, who had poured into the streets by the millions on June 30, 2013, over fears that Morsi was becoming increasingly authoritarian.
In just over two years, Morsi became the second Egyptian leader to be overthrown. During a wave of popular uprisings that swept across the Arab world in 2011, the Egyptian people also overthrew the 30-year dictatorship of military leader Hosni Mubarak.

Egyptians gather in Tahrir Square in 2012 to celebrate the ousting of Hosni Mubarak
The social and political upheaval during those years plunged Egypt into an economic crisis and deeply divided the nation.
But el-Sisi’s rise in June 2014 was supposed to herald a new era of stability. He introduced rapid economic reforms, such as slashing fuel subsidies and raising taxes in an effort to ease unemployment and generate long-term revenues. He also initiated several new infrastructure projects, including the expansion of the Suez Canal and the country’s farmland area, which he said would make Egypt more self-sufficient and generate jobs. As violence dwindled, tourism revenues increased.” — Zena Tahhan, Al Jazeera.
And then Egypt lived happily ever after?
Whilst it’d be seen as rather naive to assume that after toppling two regimes, that Egypt would finally find its paradise, you’d be forgiven for harboring even just a little hope that the third regime would show some positive improvement.
If anything, it seems as things are worse than ever, with Egypt rapidly devolving into a totalitarian police (or military) state.
Here are some of the highlights from the past six months alone:
- Since May 24, 114 websites have been blocked including Huffington Post, Al Jazeera and Medium. Even voice calls made over whatsapp, facetime and skype are being blocked.
- Hundreds have disappeared and been tortured during the brutal repression since the government took action on dissenters. Despite calls from NGOs and activists such as Amnesty International, the government has refused to curb the brutality.
- More journalists are in prison than ever previously recorded. Self-censorship is rife and the Egyptian media has become a mouthpiece of the state.
- Discriminated Nubian’s have faced more obstacles to returning to their homeland as the land they were promised has been reclassified for military or business use.
- Police are imprisoning homosexuals for attempting to use apps such as Grindr. The police are enacting ancient laws combined with new technology to make this easier.
- Numerous Middle-East experts reported to the US Senate that its relationship with Egypt needs to be reconsidered.
- President el-Sisi signed a law that heavily restricts the operations of more than 47,000 NGOs.
- Amid numerous bombings and attacks on Egypt’s Coptic Christians, the government has failed to act nor made any attempt to bring the attackers to justice.
- As education standards drop and unemployment rises, numbers of children working on the streets of Cairo has soared.
The general consensus is that the state of the country has hit an all-time low (in recent memory). International publications have declared Egypt’s revolution as a failure and even gone so far to say that the country’s extreme repression is providing the perfect breeding ground for the next generation of terrorists.
Despite this lack of progress, it’s perhaps quite surprising that Egypt putting forth a candidate for the head of UNESCO, has largely gone uncovered by the international press.
What’s the worst that could happen?

(AFP PHOTO / MAHMOUD KHALED)
According to UNESCO, it’s aim is to “to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information”.
From the points made above, it’s clear that Egypt and it’s government has been failing on all fronts. Whether it’s clamping down on free speech, neglecting education, torturing prisoners, jailing homosexuals or marginalizing ethnic groups, Egypt is hardly a suitable nation to offer up a leader.
The Director-General of UNESCO is perhaps the second most prestigious diplomatic post in the world. Second only to the Secretary-General of the UN itself.
UNESCO wields considerable influence worldwide and works with governments and NGOs to achieve its goals. With Egypt’s track record of shutting down and raiding NGOs, it doesn’t bode well for future success.
Regardless of Khattab’s credentials and personal beliefs, the risk of her becoming a mouthpiece for the Egyptian dictator, el-Sisi is unacceptable.

The human rights atrocities in his country must be stopped. His influence cannot be allowed to spread further.
