Marrakech – Morocco has been elected as a member of the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) during the 43rd session of its General Conference, held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The Kingdom secured 146 votes for a four-year mandate, according to the Moroccan delegation in Samarkand.
The Executive Board, composed of 58 member states, operates under the authority of the General Conference.
It examines UNESCO’s work programs and the corresponding budget proposals submitted by the organization’s Director-General.
The conference also saw the election of Egypt’s Khaled Ahmed El-Enany Ali Ezz as UNESCO’s new Director-General.
El-Enany received 172 votes out of 174 participating countries, following a near-unanimous recommendation from UNESCO’s Executive Board on October 5, which had favored him 55 to 2 over his competitor, Firmin Edouard Matoko of Congo-Brazzaville. He succeeds Audrey Azoulay at the helm of the organization.
Born in 1971, El-Enany holds a doctorate in Egyptology from Paul-Valéry University Montpellier 3 in France and has served as a visiting professor there multiple times.
He is a distinguished Egyptologist and professor at Helwan University in Egypt, where he has taught for over 30 years.
El-Enany’s professional journey spans both the tourism and cultural sectors. He has served as Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality, Director of the Open Learning Center, and Head of the Department of Tourist Guides.
He later directed the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (2014–2016) and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (2015–2016).
From 2016 to 2022, he held the positions of Minister of Antiquities and then Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of the Arab Republic of Egypt.
