French businessman Yazid Sabeg joins roster of UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors

French businessman Yazid Sabeg has become the latest addition to the roster of celebrity advocates who use their talent and fame to raise awareness of the work and ideals of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Director-General Irina Bokova designated Mr. Sabeg as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador at a ceremony earlier this week at the agency’s Paris headquarters in recognition of his efforts to promote equality, young people and cultural diversity, and his support of the digitization of knowledge, according to a news release.

Born in 1950, Mr. Sabeg was an advisor in charge of industrial restructuring in the cabinet of French Prime Minister Raymond Barre.

In 1990, he became head of the Compagnie des signaux, later renamed Communications et systèmes (CS), which employs nearly 4,000 people and specializes in the integration of information and communication systems for the telecommunications, transportation and defence sectors.

He has published several works focused on the fight against discrimination based on ethnic origin, and is also the author of Manifeste pour l’égalité réelle (“Manifesto for genuine equality”).

UNESCO’s roster of Goodwill Ambassadors also include such luminaries as the Nobel Peace Prize laureates Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Rigoberta Menchú Tum of Guatemala and the Italian actress Claudia Cardinale.