Egypt’s Enany set to be confirmed as UNESCO head, despite criticism of heritage record

Egypt’s former tourism and antiquities minister Khaled El-Enany is set to be confirmed as head of UNESCO later today, despite criticism from heritage groups that he had failed to protect cultural treasures at home such as Cairo’s “City of the Dead.”

Enany, 54, was elected last month by UNESCO’s 58-member Executive Board with 55 votes, beating Edouard Firmin Matoko of Congo-Brazzaville. His appointment as the first Arab director-general of the UN cultural and education agency will be put to a formal confirmation vote of all 194 member states at the agency’s general conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

The Berlin-based NGO World Heritage Watch last week urged countries to reconsider the appointment, arguing that Enany’s record as minister raised questions about his commitment to preserving cultural sites.

In a letter signed by more than 50 organizations and experts, it cited the demolition of parts of Cairo’s historic necropolis, the “City of the Dead,” and the expansion of tourism works near St Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, both UNESCO World Heritage sites.

“It is irresponsible to entrust someone with such a past with the top job at the organization responsible for preserving world heritage,” the group said.

Reuters was unable to reach Enany directly for comment. Before last month’s 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 “the unfortunate mega-project that the government decided to carry out in the St Catherine’s area is currently halted.”

Following his election, the campaign declined to comment further and referred the questions to the UNESCO Secretariat, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.