UNESCO

PRESS RELEASE

UNESCO Director-General Dr Khaled El-Enany pays his first official visit to Pakistan

UNESCO Director-General Dr. Khaled El-Enany paid his first official visit to Pakistan on 1st and 2nd February, that has successfully reinforced the strategic partnership between the Government of Pakistan and UNESCO. During this visit the Director-General engaged in high-level bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Ishaq Dar, and Federal Ministers representing the portfolios of education and professional training, culture and heritage, as well as science and technology. A primary outcome of these consultations was the joint decision to elaborate a new Strategic Roadmap between Pakistan and UNESCO designed to identify forward-looking actions and impactful initiatives tailored to the country's specific needs.

Central to the mission was Dr. El-Enany's vision of "UNESCO For the People," which places youth at the heart of the organization's mandate. At the Islamabad Model School, the Director-General received a comprehensive briefing on the National Education Emergency Action Plan and the national initiative to address the challenge of 25 million out-of-school children. He actively engaged with students in a digital classroom and a robotics lab, highlighting the critical role of AI and digital literacy in modern education. This focus on youth was further demonstrated during a visit to the Taxila World Heritage Site, where Dr. El-Enany observed ongoing excavations at Bhir Mound and praised the inclusion of young female archaeologists in heritage management. He emphasized that preservation becomes a shared community value when every individual feels ownership of their cultural heritage.

Throughout the mission, the Director-General championed his philosophy of "expertise beyond borders," advocating for global solidarity and twinning systems between museums and schools to ensure that local policies achieve global impact. This vision of shared knowledge and best practices will be a central theme of the upcoming high-level launch of the 2026 GEM Report in March and a global dialogue on out-of-school children scheduled to be held in Pakistan this April.

Dr. El-Enany concluded his visit by meeting with the UNESCO Islamabad Office team to discuss field-office empowerment and the necessity of an intersectoral approach to address community needs. He also expressed during this meeting his commitment to maximizing resources for impactful ground-level activities. Envisioning Pakistan as a global model for the organization's mandate, the Director-General recalled the importance of the UNESCO80 platform for continued dialogue as the organization moves toward its next milestone.