The long and warm handshake between Mrs. Chantal BIYA, First Lady of Cameroon and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and the Director General of UNESCO Madam Irina BOKOVA at Unity Palace on Tuesday 16 September 2014 is testimony of the kind of friendship between the two personalities. The lunch offered by the President of the Republic and Mrs. Chantal BIYA in honour of Madam Irina BOKOVA gave an opportunity for several other marks of friendship, attention, love, concern and cordiality between the two ladies.

They have the same passions and have both been serving for many years in UNESCO at the service of humanity.

To show her support for the humanitarian work of Mrs. Chantal BIYA in Cameroon, the Director General of UNESCO visited the Chantal BIYA International Research Centre in Yaounde, in order to see first-hand the different projects that are being carried out in the Centre, especially in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The management of the Centre, the CBIRC is obviously the brainchild of Mrs. Chantal BIYA, but the Centre took off with the first set of equipment supplied by UNESCO.