Arab League endorses Egypt’s former tourism minister Khaled El-Enany as Arab candidate for UNESCO Chief position

The Arab League Council of Foreign Ministers endorsed on Thursday September 7 Egypt’s former tourism and antiquities minister Khaled Enany as the Pan-Arab candidate for the post of Director-general of the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Ahram Online reports.

The election is set for the last quarter of 2025. The winner will head the Paris-based organization for four years until 2029. Egypt unveiled Enany as its candidate for the positon in April this year.

“Words fail to express my pride in being chosen as a candidate for the post of UNESCO Director-General, and my gratitude to the Egyptian state for giving me its precious confidence in being nominated for this prestigious post,” he said during a press conference.

“I saw the nomination as a responsibility, especially in light of the role that UNESCO has at this very moment in human history, in which it faces unprecedented challenges, tens of millions of children around the world still do not receive education, material cultural heritage as well as natural heritage have many challenges, old and new in climate change, as well as least developed countries not benefiting from the massive leap in technology and innovation around the world,” he added.

Enany who holds a PHD in Egyptology, UPV, Montpellier III University in 2001, was the country’s Tourism and Antiquities minister from December 2019 to August 2022. He also served as the Minister of Antiquities from March 2016, to December 2019. He has been a Professor of Egyptology at Helwan University’s College of Tourism and Hotel Management (FTH) since 1993.

The current Chief of the organization Audrey Azoulay was first elected in 2017 and her tenure was extended following an overwhelming re-election in 2021.