{"id":102151,"date":"2025-11-06T04:22:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T04:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=102151"},"modified":"2025-11-06T04:22:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T04:22:00","slug":"egypts-enany-set-to-lead-unesco-despite-criticism-of-heritage-record-at-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=102151","title":{"rendered":"Egypt\u2019s Enany set to lead UNESCO despite criticism of heritage record at home"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>3 Minute, 23 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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Egypt\u2019s former tourism and antiquities minister Khaled El-Enany is set to be confirmed as head of UNESCO on Thursday, despite criticism from heritage groups that he had failed to protect cultural treasures at home such as Cairo\u2019s \u201cCity of the Dead\u201d.<\/p>\n

Enany, 54, was elected\u00a0last month\u00a0by UNESCO\u2019s 58-member Executive Board with 55 votes, beating Edouard Firmin Matoko of Congo-Brazzaville. <\/p>\n

His appointment as the first Arab director-general of the U.N. cultural and education agency will be put to a formal confirmation vote of all 194 member states at the agency\u2019s general conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n

PARTS OF HISTORIC SITE DEMOLISHED<\/h2>\n

The Berlin-based NGO World Heritage Watch last week urged countries to reconsider the appointment, arguing that Enany\u2019s record as minister raised questions about his commitment to preserving cultural sites.<\/p>\n

In a letter signed by more than 50 organisations and experts, it cited the demolition of parts of Cairo\u2019s historic necropolis, the \u201cCity of the Dead\u201d, and the expansion of tourism works near\u00a0St Catherine\u2019s Monastery in Sinai, both UNESCO World Heritage sites.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is irresponsible to entrust someone with such a past with the top job at the organisation responsible for preserving world heritage,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n

Reuters was unable to reach Enany directly for comment. Before last month\u2019s executive board vote, his campaign said he was too busy to respond to questions sent by Reuters about criticism of his record. The campaign added in a statement that \u201cthe unfortunate mega-project that the government decided to carry out in the St Catherine\u2019s area is currently halted\u201d.<\/p>\n

Following his election, the campaign declined to comment further and referred the questions to the UNESCO Secretariat, which did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.<\/p>\n

\u2018ERASING EGYPT\u2019S HISTORY\u2019<\/h2>\n

An Egyptologist and former museum director, Enany served as minister from 2016 to 2022. UNESCO documents describe Enany\u2019s former ministry as the \u201cofficial entity responsible\u201d for UNESCO World Heritage property in Cairo\u2019s historic area.<\/p>\n

Conservationists argue that gave the ministry a duty to map and register assets, set site boundaries, press for impact assessments before launching projects and object when those projects threatened what UNESCO dubs areas of outstanding universal value.<\/p>\n

Instead, they say, highway and bridge projects that\u00a0accelerated\u00a0from 2020 cut through swathes of unregistered mausoleums in the \u201cCity of the Dead\u201d, a 10 sq km (3.9 sq miles) necropolis fringing eastern Cairo.<\/p>\n

Many families still bury their dead in the area, amid ornate tombs of Mamluk sultans, nationalist leaders and Islamic scholars such as Imam al-Shafi\u2019i.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened in the cemeteries is erasing a huge part of Egypt\u2019s history,\u201d said heritage advocate Sally Soliman, who has filed lawsuits to stop demolitions.<\/p>\n

Egypt\u2019s government has defended the developments, saying registered monuments were spared and that infrastructure work was essential to revitalise tourism and modernise Cairo.<\/p>\n

In South Sinai, critics say the \u201cGreat Transfiguration\u201d project that began in 2021 around St Catherine\u2019s Monastery replaced a small visitor centre with large domed buildings that clashed with the\u00a0ancient site\u2019s design and setting.<\/p>\n

UNESCO\u2019s World Heritage Committee earlier this year requested an expert mission to assess the site.<\/p>\n

DIPLOMATIC MOMENTUM<\/h2>\n

Despite the controversy, Enany\u2019s bid has drawn strong support from Arab and African nations, which have long sought greater representation at the helm of the organisation.<\/p>\n

\u201cEgypt\u2019s candidature is overdue representation,\u201d Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said in Paris last month. \u201cWe have to lift this historical injustice to Egypt, to the Arabs, to the Muslims, and to the Africans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enany has pledged to \u201cbuild a UNESCO for the people\u201d, streamline decision-making and diversify funding as the agency braces for the withdrawal of U.S. financial contributions at the end of 2026.<\/p>\n

A UNESCO spokesperson said the election of the director-general was \u201ca sovereign decision of member states\u201d.<\/p>\n

If confirmed, Enany will take office in mid-November, succeeding France\u2019s Audrey Azoulay, who has completed two four-year terms.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Egypt'sEgypt’s former tourism and antiquities minister Khaled El-Enany is set to be confirmed as head of UNESCO on Thursday, despite criticism from heritage groups that he had failed to protect cultural treasures at home such as Cairo’s “City of the Dead”.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1972,11987,10,9,4301],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","category-khaled-el-enany","category-politics","category-popular","category-unesco"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=102151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102151\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=102151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=102151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=102151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}