Eduardo González
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares congratulated the new Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Egyptian Khaled El-Enany, on Thursday and thanked his predecessor, Audrey Azoulay, for her “dedication and commitment.”
“Congratulations, Khaled El-Enany, on your election as the new Director-General of UNESCO,” Albares wrote on social media. “We will work together to promote culture, education, and science, and to protect heritage as pillars of peace,” he added. “Thank you, Audrey Azoulay, for your dedication and commitment all these years,” he concluded.
The UNESCO General Conference elected Khaled El-Enany to the position of Director-General of the organization on Thursday with 172 votes out of a total of 174. He will succeed Audrey Azoulay, who has held the position since 2017, on November 15.
Khaled Ahmed El-Enany Ali Ezz, born in 1971, is an eminent Egyptologist and professor of Egyptology at Helouan University (Egypt), where he has taught for over thirty years. He was Vice Dean of the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality, Director of the Open Learning Center, and Head of the Department of Tourist Guides. He also holds a doctorate in Egyptology from Paul-Valéry University Montpellier 3 (France), where he has been a visiting professor on several occasions.
He directed the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (2014-2016) and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (2015-2016). From 2016 to 2022, he served as Minister of Antiquities and then Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of the Arab Republic of Egypt.
He is a member of several international scientific societies. In November 2024, he was appointed Special Ambassador for Cultural Tourism by the World Tourism Organization and, more recently, a patron of the African World Heritage Fund. He holds several international distinctions. He speaks Arabic, French, and English.
Khaled El-Enany is the twelfth Director-General of UNESCO. He is the first Director-General from an Arab country and the second African, after Amadou Mahtar M’Bow of Senegal (1974–1987). He will assume his duties on November 15 for a four-year term.
Albares wrote this message from Brussels, where he met with Clara Martínez Alberola, Senior Advisor to the European Commission, at the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU and with Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, at the institution’s headquarters. He also introduced the CEO of Indra Group, José Vicente de los Mozos, at the Fórum Europa breakfast briefing and closed the Aquí Europa Awards at the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU.