New UNESCO Director-General elected in Samarkand

On 6 November, during the 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference held in Samarkand, Khaled Al-Anani (Egypt) was elected as the organization’s new Director-General. He received 172 out of 174 votes. Al-Anani will succeed Audrey Azoulay, who has held the position since 2017, and will officially assume office on 15 November.

Khaled Ahmad Al-Anani Ali Azz, born in 1971, is a professor at Helwan University in Egypt and a distinguished Egyptologist. He has taught at the university for over 30 years. Previously, he served as Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality, Director of the Center for Open Education, and Head of the Guides Department. He earned his doctorate in Egyptology at the Paul-Valéry University Montpellier III in France, where he also taught as a professor on multiple occasions.

Al-Anani served as Director of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization from 2014 to 2016 and as Director of the Cairo Egyptian Museum from 2015 to 2016. Between 2016 and 2022, he held the positions of Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities and later Minister of Tourism and Antiquities.

He is a member of several international scholarly associations. In November 2024, he was appointed Special Envoy for Cultural Tourism by the UN World Tourism Organization. He also serves as a patron of the African World Heritage Fund. Al-Anani speaks Arabic, French, and English.

Khaled Al-Anani becomes the 12th Director-General of UNESCO and is the first Arab and the second African to hold this position. The only previous Director-General from Africa was Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow (Senegal, 1974–1987). He will serve a four-year term beginning 15 November.

UNESCO is a specialized agency of the UN focused on promoting peace and security through multilateral cooperation in education, science, culture, communication, and information. Headquartered in Paris, the organization operates in 54 countries and employs over 2,300 staff.

The organization manages more than 2,000 World Heritage Sites, Biosphere Reserves, and Global Geoparks, as well as networks of creative, educational, inclusive, and sustainable cities. UNESCO also connects over 13,000 affiliated schools, university departments, and research centers worldwide and has 194 member states.