PARIS: An Egyptian antiquities professor and ex-tourism minister is facing off against a Congolese economist who promoted schooling in refugee camps in a race to become the new director of UNESCO.
Whoever wins will inherit a world body reeling from the Trump administration’s recent decision to pull the United States out of UNESCO, portending a big budget shortfall at the agency best known for its World Heritage sites around the globe.
UNESCO’s executive board begins voting Monday to recommend either Khaled el-Enany or Firmin Édouard Matoko for the position of director-general. The decision by the board, which represents 58 of the agency’s 194 member states, is expected to be finalized by UNESCO’s general assembly next month.
Noble ambitions and persistent problems
In addition to choosing and protecting World Heritage sites and traditions, the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization works to ensure education for girls, promotes Holocaust awareness and funds scientific research in developing countries, among other activities. Outgoing UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay notably led a high-profile effort to rebuild the ancient Iraqi city of Mosul after it was devastated under the Daesh group.
UNESCO has also long been plagued by accusations of mismanagement and waste.
Trump argues that the agency, which voted in 2011 to admit Palestine as a member, is too politicized and anti-Israel. US supporters of UNESCO, meanwhile, say withdrawing Washington’s support allows China to play an outsized role in the world body.
Meanwhile the vote comes at a time when the whole 80-year-old UN system is facing financial challenges and deepening divisions over the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
Frontrunner wants to be UNESCO’s first Arab leader
El-Enany worked as a tour guide through ancient Egyptian sites, earned a doctorate in France and served as Egypt’s tourism minister and antiquities minister.
Arab countries have long wanted to lead UNESCO, and el-Enany is seen as having a good chance of making that happen. The African Union and Arab League are among those that have expressed support for his bid.
He would be expected to focus on UNESCO’s cultural programs if chosen, and has pledged to continue UNESCO’s work to fight antisemitism and religious intolerance. Israel left UNESCO at the end of 2018.
While he has no UN experience, his backers say that could help him make tough reform decisions.
Challenger wants to calm tensions
Republic of Congo’s candidate Firmin Matoko, 69, spent most of his career working for UNESCO, including stints in Rwanda soon after the genocide, during peace negotiations in El Salvador and beyond.
He says he wants UNESCO to move away from political tensions and focus on technical solutions. He described helping train teachers at a refugee camp in Somalia in the 1990s, and meeting one of them years later after she became education minister. That, he says, is one reason UNESCO matters.
He says he is ready to cut jobs or programs if needed, and pledges “budgetary rigor.”
Like el-Enany, he wants to tap more private sector money to make up for the loss of US and other funding, notably from BRICS countries.
At the same time, he said, “I will do everything so that the United States comes back, while taking into account what they reproach UNESCO for.”
UNESCO is choosing a new director who will face a big funding shortage after US exit
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UNESCO is choosing a new director who will face a big funding shortage after US exit
- UNESCO’s executive board starts voting Monday to recommend either Khaled el-Anany or Firmin Édouard Matoko for the position
- El-Enany is supported by the African Union and Arab League, is expected to focus on cultural programs
UK plans evacuation of thousands of Britons from Gulf
- 76,000 citizens in affected areas registered with FCO
- Wealthy expats taking long drive from UAE to fly via Riyadh airport
RIYADH: The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office is drawing up plans to evacuate tens of thousands of British citizens if war in the Middle East escalates, several British media outlets have reported.
The government does not know how many British nationals are resident, on holiday, or otherwise traveling across the Gulf, but it said 76,000 have so far registered their presence in affected areas of the region.
According to The Guardian, more than 50,000 of those are believed to be in the UAE, and most are holidaymakers or other travelers rather than residents, with Dubai a major tourist and business destination. Its airspace is currently closed, leaving tourists without a clear plan for getting home.
The Foreign Office’s advice is against all travel to Iran, Israel, and Palestine. It also advises against all but essential travel to the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, and there are further instructions to avoid travel to some parts of Pakistan.
According to the X account of the British ambassador to Saudi Arabia, British nationals in the Kingdom are advised to stay at home, while those in Jordan, Oman, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq should take precautions given the heightened regional tensions.
Yvette Cooper, the British foreign secretary, is expected to make her first remarks on the unfolding crisis on Monday. For his part, Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday expressed “solidarity” with nations in the Middle East facing “indiscriminate” fire from Iran as he spoke to the leaders of Bahrain and Cyprus.
Meanwhile, leading online news outlet Semafor has reported that Riyadh has emerged as a key exit route for the super-rich and senior executives stranded in the Gulf who are seeking safe passage out of major cities such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha.
The Saudi capital’s airport is one of the few still operating in the region, forcing executives and their families stranded in other parts of the Gulf to take the long drive in order to catch private jets or commercial flights from King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh, Semafor reported.
Private security companies have been booking fleets of SUVs to ferry high-net-worth individuals and leading executives on the 10-hour drive to Riyadh from Dubai, before chartering private planes to take them out of the region.
“Saudi Arabia is the only real option for people who want to get out of the region right now,” said Ameerh Naran, chief executive of private jet brokerage Vimana Private. Private jets from Riyadh to Europe now cost up to $350,000, he told Semafor.
