Whereas his election is a serious diplomatic victory for Egypt, the longer term Director-Normal should discover a new place for the UN company in a altering world.
In November 2025, Khaled Ahmed El-Enany Ali Ezz will succeed Audrey Azoulay as head of UNESCO for a four-year time period. The Egyptian candidate was most popular to his Congolese rival Édouard Matoko – an insider who entered the race late – by the Government Board of the UN organisation, which is answerable for preserving world heritage. This proposal might be put to a vote by all UNESCO Member States on 6 November on the Organisation’s Normal Convention in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The US, the organisation’s predominant monetary contributor, representing round 8% of its funds, won’t be taking part within the convention. This summer season, Donald Trump determined to go away UNESCO as soon as once more, judging that the Paris-based organisation serves ‘divisive social and cultural causes’ and defends ‘an ideological and globalist agenda’.
The brand new chief will subsequently must take the reins of a controversial organisation with a fragile funds. The US withdrawal provides extra weight to Center Japanese nations and, above all, to China. Whereas the White Home’s determination was partly motivated by the combination of Palestine, the arrival of an Egyptian on the helm doesn’t appear to hassle Israel, whose press is fairly complimentary in the direction of him. Israel, which has not been a member of UNESCO since 2017.
Khaled Ahmed El-Enany Ali Ezz, born in 1971, is a distinguished Egyptologist and professor of Egyptology at Helwan College, the place he has been instructing for over thirty years. He has served as vice-dean of the School of Tourism and Hospitality, director of the Open Studying Centre and head of the tour information division. He holds a PhD in Egyptology from Paul-Valéry College in Montpellier (France), the place he has been a visiting professor on a number of events, in response to a UNESCO press launch.
Diplomatic victory
He directed the Nationwide Museum of Egyptian Civilisation (2014-2016) and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (2015-2016). From 2016 to 2022, he served as Minister of Antiquities, then Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of the Arab Republic of Egypt. This was throughout a very tough interval for the profitable tourism sector, marked by terrorist assaults and the well being disaster.
His work as a museum curator is unanimously praised by professionals. Nevertheless, the minister has not escaped controversy, notably throughout the work on Cairo’s historic necropolis, the Metropolis of the Lifeless, which led to the eviction of residents, the relocation of statues and the destruction of tombs – ‘modern’ ones, he argues.
Khaled el-Enany will grow to be the primary Director-Normal of UNESCO from an Arab nation and the second African after Amadou Mahtar Mbow of Senegal.
‘I want Dr el-Enany all one of the best in conducting his noble mission,’ Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi mentioned in a press release. It’s true that the dimensions of the victory within the Government Board (55-2) is historic. The marketing campaign resulted in a ‘lobbying effort’ by his nation, which has achieved an amazing diplomatic success. The truth that Khaled el-Enany managed to win so handsomely regardless of a marketing campaign towards him, notably within the early weeks, reveals that Egypt nonetheless carries weight diplomatically.
The candidate managed to beat the politicisation of UNESCO’s governing our bodies by highlighting his qualities within the discipline. Coincidentally, the federal government is making ready for the official opening in early November of the Grand Egyptian Museum, one of many largest archaeological museums on the earth.
For his half, the brand new head guarantees to work ‘hand in hand’ with all Member States ‘to construct collectively a roadmap to modernise UNESCO and propel it into the longer term’.
What concerning the funds?
UNESCO has subsequently opted for the ‘new perspective’ put ahead by Khaled el-Enany, who has highlighted his previous profession within the discipline, which he’ll use to provide UNESCO ‘larger visibility and impression’.
Khaled el-Enany additionally guarantees to ‘depoliticise the controversy’, which is way from a foregone conclusion, provided that sensitivities are generally heightened. In 2025, for instance, the awarding of a prize to an opposition newspaper led to Nicaragua’s departure. On this context, Khaled el-Enany believes he can deliver america again, one thing Audrey Azoulay already succeeded in doing in 2023. ‘I wish to attempt to depoliticise the controversy inside UNESCO. When a baby is disadvantaged of schooling, I don’t wish to know their nationality!’ he not too long ago instructed AFP.
He defends himself prematurely towards accusations of being the spokesperson for the Arab world or Africa. Above all, he intends to exert affect in battle zones resembling Gaza, Ukraine and Haiti. ‘However to be efficient, you want cash, budgets,’ he acknowledges. His first concern will most likely be monetary. Within the absence of American assist, Khaled el-Enany hopes to draw contributions from different governments and make larger use of the non-public sector, which acts by foundations and patronage. The non-public sector accounted for 8% of the funds in 2024, and Khaled el-Enany believes there’s room to extend its illustration.
Extra usually, the query is how UNESCO will discover its place within the twenty first century, now that the multilateralism of latest many years appears to have run its course. This is a matter that considerations all UN companies, though UNESCO, attributable to its cultural specificity, retains a specific amount of leeway to take care of its mission. Its core function, its position as a watchdog, stays related at this time.
