UNESCO board set to select Egypt's s El-Enany as new chief - diplomats

AL-Monitor
Oct 6, 2025
Egypt's Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany speaks during the presentation of a new discovery at Tuna el-Gebel archaeological site in Minya Governorate, Egypt, February 2, 2019. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Egypt's Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany speaks during the presentation of a new discovery at Tuna el-Gebel archaeological site in Minya Governorate, Egypt, February 2, 2019. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh — AMR ABDALLAH DALSH

PARIS (Reuters) -The United Nations' cultural agency is set to select Egypt's Khaled El-Enany as its new director general, two diplomatic sources said on Monday.

UNESCO's executive board voted 55 to 2 in favour of El-Enany, a former tourism and antiquities minister, against Édouard Firmin Matoko, 69, of Republic of Congo. The United States did not vote.

It will now be put forward for approval to UNESCO's 194 members in November.

(Reporting by John Irish, Editing by Dominique Vidalon)