While his election is a major diplomatic victory for Egypt, the future Director-General will have to find a new place for the UN agency in a changing world.
In November 2025, Khaled Ahmed El-Enany Ali Ezz will succeed Audrey Azoulay as head of UNESCO for a four-year term. The Egyptian candidate was preferred to his Congolese rival Édouard Matoko – an insider who entered the race late – by the Executive Board of the UN organisation, which is responsible for preserving world heritage. This proposal will be put to a vote by all UNESCO Member States on 6 November at the Organisation’s General Conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The United States, the organisation’s main financial contributor, representing around 8% of its budget, will not be participating in the conference. This summer, Donald Trump decided to leave UNESCO once again, judging that the Paris-based organisation serves ‘divisive social and cultural causes’ and defends ‘an ideological and globalist agenda’.
The new leader will therefore have to take the reins of a controversial organisation with a fragile budget. The US withdrawal gives more weight to Middle Eastern countries and, above all, to China. While the White House’s decision was partly motivated by the integration of Palestine, the arrival of an Egyptian at the helm does not seem to bother Israel, whose press is rather complimentary towards him. Israel, which has not been a member of UNESCO since 2017.
Khaled Ahmed El-Enany Ali Ezz, born in 1971, is a prominent Egyptologist and professor of Egyptology at Helwan University, where he has been teaching for over thirty years. He has served as vice-dean of the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality, director of the Open Learning Centre and head of the tour guide department. He holds a PhD in Egyptology from Paul-Valéry University in Montpellier (France), where he has been a visiting professor on several occasions, according to a UNESCO press release.
Diplomatic victory
He directed the National 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 during a particularly difficult period for the lucrative tourism sector, marked by terrorist attacks and the health crisis.
His work as a museum curator is unanimously praised by professionals. However, the minister has not escaped controversy, particularly during the work on Cairo’s historic necropolis, the City of the Dead, which led to the eviction of residents, the relocation of statues and the destruction of tombs – ‘contemporary’ ones, he argues.
Khaled el-Enany will become the first Director-General of UNESCO from an Arab country and the second African after Amadou Mahtar Mbow of Senegal.
‘I wish Dr el-Enany all the best in accomplishing his noble mission,’ Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi said in a statement. It is true that the scale of the victory in the Executive Board (55-2) is historic. The campaign resulted in a ‘lobbying effort’ by his country, which has achieved a great diplomatic success. The fact that Khaled el-Enany managed to win so handsomely despite a campaign against him, particularly in the early weeks, shows that Egypt still carries weight diplomatically.
The candidate managed to overcome the politicisation of UNESCO’s governing bodies by highlighting his qualities in the field. Coincidentally, the government is preparing for the official opening in early November of the Grand Egyptian Museum, one of the largest archaeological museums in the world.
For his part, the new head promises to work ‘hand in hand’ with all Member States ‘to build together a roadmap to modernise UNESCO and propel it into the future’.
What about the budget?
UNESCO has therefore opted for the ‘new perspective’ put forward by Khaled el-Enany, who has highlighted his past career in the field, which he will use to give UNESCO ‘greater visibility and impact’.
Khaled el-Enany also promises to ‘depoliticise the debate’, which is far from a foregone conclusion, given that sensitivities are sometimes heightened. In 2025, for example, the awarding of a prize to an opposition newspaper led to Nicaragua’s departure. In this context, Khaled el-Enany believes he can bring the United States back, something Audrey Azoulay already succeeded in doing in 2023. ‘I want to try to depoliticise the debate within UNESCO. When a child is deprived of education, I don’t want to know their nationality!’ he recently told AFP.
He defends himself in advance against accusations of being the spokesperson for the Arab world or Africa. Above all, he intends to exert influence in conflict zones such as Gaza, Ukraine and Haiti. ‘But to be effective, you need money, budgets,’ he acknowledges. His first concern will probably be financial. In the absence of American support, Khaled el-Enany hopes to attract contributions from other governments and make greater use of the private sector, which acts through foundations and patronage. The private sector accounted for 8% of the budget in 2024, and Khaled el-Enany believes there is room to increase its representation.
More generally, the question is how UNESCO will find its place in the 21st century, now that the multilateralism of recent decades seems to have run its course. This is an issue that concerns all UN agencies, although UNESCO, due to its cultural specificity, retains a certain amount of leeway to maintain its mission. Its core purpose, its role as a watchdog, remains relevant today.
