Egyptian Candidate for Unesco’s Top Spot Stresses Agency’s Role in Times of Crisis

By Akiko Inoue / Japan News Staff Writer

20:00 JST, June 1, 2025

Khaled El-Enany, a former minister of tourism and antiquities for Egypt and now a candidate for director general of UNESCO, stressed the role the U.N. organization has played in times of crisis and the need to strengthen its funding in a recent interview with The Japan News in Tokyo. A written response was also provided after the interview.

Recent conflicts around the world, including in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, have damaged and destroyed numerous cultural properties, while also seriously impacting many children’s ability to get an education. El-Enany argued that the destruction of cultural heritage is “no longer a tragic by-product of war” but is now rather “a deliberate strategy … to erase identity.”

As for the children who lose access to education, he said they “miss the values needed to thrive in their societies,” which can put an entire generation at risk “of marginalization, of vulnerability, sometimes of radicalization.” The affected children need “pragmatic solutions,” such as distance-learning tools, as well as psychological support.

UNESCO, said El-Enany, has neither the power nor the mandate to stop wars. That means it should be focused on its roles at three levels — preventing conflicts by “fostering a culture of peace and fighting against hate”; protecting institutions and cultural assets during conflicts; and prioritizing reconstruction of “heritage sites and schools” after conflicts.

In February, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump announced it would reconsider U.S. membership in UNESCO because the agency has “demonstrated anti-Israel sentiment over the past decade,” among other reasons. The United States withdrew from the organization in 2018 during the first Trump administration and was readmitted in 2023 during the Biden administration. Nicaragua recently announced it intends to withdraw over issues related to free speech.

El-Enany expressed regret over these developments, which he said present a serious problem for funding and mean the loss of U.S. expertise. That is why UNESCO must “do everything to keep the United States,” he asserted. “The idea behind UNESCO is inclusivity, and we have to have everyone, even countries who disagree politically.”

He added that UNESCO “can offer [a] very important platform” for discussion of contentious issues.

In light of these problems, he called for strengthening UNESCO’s funding to make it more diverse, flexible and sustainable, so that the organization can minimize the possible impact of withdrawals and “focus on its strategic priorities rather than constantly adapting to fragmented project-based logic.” To this end, there needs to be stronger “partnerships with the private sector and philanthropic foundations.”

UNESCO’s next director general election will be appointed by the General Conference in October. Currently, two other candidates are also in the running.