The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) at the weekend elected Egyptian Khaled el-Enany as its new chief, with the former minister tasked with steering the UN cultural agency through the political and financial consequences of US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the organisation.

Enany, 54, an Egyptologist who served as Egypt’s culture and antiquities minister from 2016 to 2022, was overwhelmingly chosen by member states to take over from France’s Audrey Azoulay as director general at the UNESCO general conference in the Uzbek city of Samarkand.

He will assume office on November 15, becoming the first representative of an Arab state and the second from Africa to lead the organisation, which oversees the coveted World Heritage List.

His election marked a diplomatic victory for Egypt under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who wants to extend its international influence, despite criticism of its rights record. The country hosted the signing of a Gaza ceasefire agreement in October.

But Enany faces an immediate challenge after Trump’s move, effective in December 2026, to pull the United States out of UNESCO, on the alleged grounds that it is biased against Israel and promotes “divisive” causes.

Trump had already ordered a withdrawal in 2017 during his first term. President Joe Biden re-established US membership.

After his election, Enany said he wanted a “strong and united UNESCO, a non-politicised organisation that chooses consensus over divisions” and also vowed to make the budget “a priority”.

Making up the funding gap could see greater use of the private sector, whose contributions represented only eight per cent of the budget in 2024.