Monday 06/Oct/2025 – 07:59 PM
The UNESCO Executive Council of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) chose Dr. Khaled Al -Anani as a new director of the organization during the period from 2025 to 2029, to lead the organization with experience extending more than three decades in the fields of culture, antiquities, tourism and education.
Who is Khaled Al -Anani?
Khaled Ahmed Al -Anani Ali Ezz was born in 1971, and he is considered one of the most prominent Egyptian scholars, where he is a professor of Egyptology at Helwan University for more than thirty years, and he taught in a number of universities and scientific institutions in Egypt and abroad, and he also obtained a doctorate in Egyptology from the University of Paul Valerie – Montpellier 3 in France, and appointed a visiting professor at the same university eight times between 2006 and 2023.
Khaled Al -Anani participated for about 15 years at the French Institute of Eastern Antiquities in Cairo (IFAO), and supervised the training of generations of Egyptian and foreign researchers, as well as the publication of more than twenty scientific papers in international magazines and periodicals.
Khaled Al -Anani from the university’s halls to the leadership of the two ministries
Al -Anani graduated in a number of academic and administrative positions, including: Director of the Open Education Center at Helwan University, Head of the Department of Tourism Guidance, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, a member of the Board of Trustees of the French University in Egypt and a number of other Egyptian universities.
He then moved to the executive field, where he took over the administration of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization and the Egyptian Museum to Liberation, before appointed Minister of Antiquities in 2016, and in 2019, he led the process of integrating the ministries of tourism and antiquities for the first time since 1966, to become the first minister to combine the two positions, as the manager of a sector of more than 35 thousand employees, and controls an annual budget of approximately half a billion dollars.
Khaled Al -Anani’s achievements
Khaled Al -Anani supervised more than 20 new or renovated museums in various governorates, including the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in cooperation with UNESCO, in addition to supervising the Grand Egyptian Museum project that is one of the largest museums in the world at a cost of approaching one billion dollars, and he also led more than 50 restoration projects for prominent archaeological sites, such as Al -Azhar Mosque, Churches and monasteries of the path of the Holy Family, In Alexandria.
As the head of the Egyptian Antiquities Recovery Committee, he succeeded in restoring thousands of artifacts from more than twenty countries, and organized nearly 15 temporary international exhibitions for Egyptian antiquities in ten countries, in support of cultural exchange and dialogue between peoples.
The name Khaled Al -Anani has emerged globally with his organization huge cultural events that have become signs of Egyptian and international collective memory, most notably: the golden mummies procession that dazzled the world in the streets of Cairo, and the celebration of the Rabbash road in Luxor that embodied the legacy of Egyptian history.
These activities re -highlighted Egypt’s cultural depth and contributed to stimulating tourism and restoring international confidence in the state’s capabilities to manage its heritage.
International awards and honors by Khaled Al -Anani
Dr. Khaled Al -Anani obtained a number of international decorations and honors, among them: Medal of Faris Arts and Arts – France 2015, Merit Medal – Poland 2020, Medal of the Rising Sun – Japan 2021, Honorary PhD – Paul Valerie University 2024, and a special ambassador for cultural tourism – United Nations Tourism Organization 2024, and Medal of the French Honor Legion of Honor – the highest Civil Medal in France, September 2025.
