On November 10, the results of the elections to UNESCO’s intergovernmental bodies were announced, according to which Russia was not elected to any of the key structures – the Intergovernmental Council of UNESCO’s Information for All Programme (IFAP), the Intergovernmental Council of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), and the International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Programme (ICC MAB). This was reported by Olha Herasymiuk, Chair of the National Council, who heads Ukraine’s National IFAP Committee and the National Committee for Cooperation with UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication.
“Thanks to the consistent efforts of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to UNESCO, and our partners, Russia is gradually being pushed out of international structures. This time, real competition was created for Russia in the elections to IPDC, IFAP, and ICC MAB – as a result, it did not succeed. Instead, our colleagues from Latvia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Lithuania were elected to these bodies,” said Olha Herasymiuk.
According to the voting results:
- IFAP: Latvia – 103 votes, Russia – 59;
- IPDC: Latvia – 135, Poland – 128, Czech Republic – 116, Russia – 74;
- ICC MAB: Lithuania – 97, Russia – 64.
This is not Russia’s first defeat within UNESCO structures. As Olha Herasymiuk noted, the trend indicates the Kremlin’s loss of influence on international humanitarian platforms and growing trust in Ukraine’s European partners.
As previously reported, on November 7, during the 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference held in Samarkand (Uzbekistan), Ukraine was elected to the UNESCO Executive Board for the period 2025-2029. Russia dropped out of the race with the lowest result.
Earlier, Olha Herasymiuk called for strengthening the intergovernmental coordination mechanisms of UNESCO’s Information for All Programme (IFAP) to ensure that it remains a powerful platform for inclusive strategic dialogue and knowledge exchange in the digital age. She made this statement during the meeting of the Communication and Information Commission within the framework of the 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference in Samarkand.
