The fifth and final round of a vote to elect UNESCO's new Director-General kicked off Friday.

Qatar's Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari and France's Audrey Azoulay are vying to get the needed 30 votes from UNESCO's executive board.

The winner to be selected on Friday will succeed outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova, whose 8-year term leading the UN cultural agency was marred by financial woes and criticism over Palestine's inclusion as a member.

The final vote comes the day after the US and Israel said they plan to pull out of the organization over alleged "anti-Israel bias".

Source: MENA