Nahla Emam Wins UNESCO Evaluation Body MENA's Chair

Dr. Nahla Emam won with MENA's chair at the UNESCO's Evaluation Body after she received 21 votes, media agencies reported on Thursday.

Emam is the deputy head of Egypt's delegation at UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage body; she is the head of Folk Habits, Beliefs, and Traditional Knowledge at the High Institute of Folklore.

Recently, Egypt succeeded in listing Arabic calligraphy on the organziation's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the coordination with KSA, Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia.

This kind of art was the sixth intangible folk form rolled on the list after Al Sira Al Hilaliyah, Egyptian stick-fighting and stick-performing art known as Tahtib, and folk Egyptian puppet shows known as Aragoz, Egyptian rituals related to palm trees, and finally the arts of textile in Upper Egypt.

Last month, Egypt was reelected as a member of the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for another four-year term.

Egypt, which has been a member of the organization's Executive Board from 2013 to 2021, garnered 130 out 184 votes in an electoral group including Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Morocco, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry Ahmed Hafez announced.

He added these victory crowns efforts made by the ministry and Egyptian embassies and envoys to garner votes in favor of re-electing Egypt as a UNESCO executive board member.