Ms Vera El Khoury Lacoeuilhe

Vera Lacoeuilhe has a wealth of diplomatic  experience with over two decades of multilateral diplomacy and international relations. She has been representing Saint Lucia in UNESCO since 1996 and is currently its Representative to the Executive Board. She is a passionate advocate of multilateralism and its global role in building peace, stability, solidarity and sustainable development.

Throughout her career, Vera Lacoeuilhe has demonstrated her tireless drive towards strengthening the governance and effectiveness of UNESCO and has been a constant advocate for transparency and accountability.

Vera Lacoeuilhe  has been entrusted plenipotentiary responsibilities on multiple missions, as head of delegation to ministerial  meetings, and as president of several intergovernmental bodies, such as the World Heritage Committee in 2003. She has actively participated in twelve sessions of the General Conference and served several mandates on the Executive Board of UNESCO. She was appointed to several senior positions, notably the presidency of subsidiary organs of both the General Conference and the Executive Board.

In addition to her effectiveness and her track record as a consensus builder, Vera Lacoeuilhe is also a politically astute negotiator. She has been responsible for finding consensus on some of the most difficult and sensitive issues dealt with in UNESCO. and She was entrusted with chairing the First Extraordinary Session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention dealing with the distribution of the seats of the World Heritage Committee to the different Electoral Groups of UNESCO. She chaired the Open-ended Working Group on Sites of Memory associated with Recent Conflicts,  chairing the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts in charge of negotiating the Recommendation on Open Science, chairing the Intergovernmental Meeting of Experts for the negotiation of the Recommendation on Historic Urban Landscape and the Drafting Group of the International Convention against Doping in Sport, as well as over many political  issues on the agenda of both the Executive Board and the General Conference.

Her skills combined with her significant knowledge and insights into international law have enabled her to play a lead role in elaborating several UNESCO legal instruments, mainly in the negotiations and the drafting of all Declarations, Recommendations and Conventions adopted by the Organisation over the past twenty years. This has given her in-depth understanding of UNESCO’s normative work.

Her broad knowledge of the design and structure of the United Nations System was recognized when, in January  2016, she was selected as a member of the “Independent Team of Advisors” established by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), charged with making recommendations on the long term positioning of the United Nations Development System in the context of the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Blending her  diplomatic  experience with  a  strong  international relations background, Vera Lacoeuilhe  currently  teaches a Master 2 level Seminar entitled
«International Institutions and Organisations» at the Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne University.  She also teaches a Master level course on the international cultural UNESCO conventions   at Sciences Po Paris.

Leadership positions in UNESCO

EXECUTIVE BOARD OF UNESCO

• Chairperson of the Executive Board (2023-2025) (elected 24 November 2023)

   

• 2022- 2025  

  Representative of Saint Lucia to the Executive Board

• 2019-2021    

  Vice-Chairperson for Group III (GRULAC) in the Executive Board of UNESCO

• 2012-2013    

  President of the Preparatory Group of the Executive Board of UNESCO

• 2009-2011    

  President of the Ad Hoc Group on the Independent External Evaluation of UNESCO (IEE)

• 1999-2001    

  Chairperson of the Group of Experts on Finance and Administrative Matters

GENERAL CONFERENCE OF UNESCO

• 2006     

  President of the Think Tank of the General Conference on the Reform of the Executive Board and the General Conference of UNESCO

• 2003             

  President of the Group on the Right to Vote at the 32^ndSession of the General Conference of UNESCO

• 1999 

  Chairperson of the Joint Commission - Administration and Programme - at the 30^thsession of the General Conference of UNESCO

OTHER UNESCO BODIES

• 2022             

  President of the open-ended Working Group on Sites of Memory Associated with Recent Conflicts established by the World Heritage Committee

• 2021           

  President of the Intergovernmental Meeting of Experts that negotiated the Recommendation on Open Science 

• 2015-2017    

  Campaign for the Post of Director-General of UNESCO

• 2014            

  President of the 1^st Extraordinary Session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention (Paris)

• 2011

  Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Meeting of Experts for the negotiation of the Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape

• 2009            

  Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Committee of the Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions

• 2003           

  Chairperson of the 27^th session of the World Heritage Committee (Paris)

• 2003            

  Chairperson of the Drafting Group on the International Convention against Doping in Sport

OTHER ORGANISATIONS

• 2016              

  Member of the Independent Team of Advisors (ITA) 

  ECOSOC (UN Economic and Social Council), New York 

• 2001-2016    

  Alternate Representative of the Head of Government of Saint Lucia to the International Organisation of Francophonie (OIF)

• 2014              

  President of the Ad Hoc Group on the Reform of the Governing Bodies of the International Organisation of Francophonie, 

  appointed by President Abdou Diouf, Secretary General of Francophonie

PARTNERSHIP WITH UNIVERSITIES

• Since 2018    

  Lecturer at Sciences Po Paris

      School of Public Affairs. 

Case study: The World Heritage Convention and its Committee: Challenges and Solutions

• Since 2013   

  Lecturer at Paris 1 Pantheon- Sorbonne University 

     Law School, Department of International Administration: 

Course on “International  Institutions and Organisations»

EDUCATION

• 1983       Master of Arts (MA), New York University (NYU) 

                     Near and Middle Eastern Studies

                     Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

• 1979        Bachelor of Arts (BA) (with distinction), American University of Beirut (AUB)

                     Political Science and Government 

                     School of Arts and Sciences

LANGUAGES

• Fluent in English, French and Arabic

Detailed Curriculum Vitae available here