Bulgaria's candidate for director general of the UN Irina Bokova is among the ten most powerful women in the world as ranked by AFP. Bokova places ninth, ahead of the Director of World Health Organization Margaret Chan. Bokova is presented as the first woman who in 2009 headed UNESCO and so far has put UNESCO at the centre of the fight for women's equality. She is said to be one of the main contenders for the director 's position at the UN.