Summary:
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The United States will rejoin the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in July 2023, after withdrawing in 2017. The move comes after the U.S. Congress passed a bill in December 2022 that authorized financial contributions to UNESCO.
“This is a strong act of confidence, in UNESCO and in multilateralism,” Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO’s director-general, said in a statement after announcing the U.S. decision to a meeting of representatives of the agency’s 193 members at its headquarters in Paris.
In 2011, the United States stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a full member. The move, made because of U.S. legislation mandating a complete cutoff of American financing to any United Nations agency that accepts Palestine as a full member, deprived the agency of nearly a fifth of its budget, forcing it to slash programs.
Then, in 2017, the Trump administration cited anti-Israel bias and mounting arrears when it took a step further and announced that it was withdrawing from UNESCO completely, although the United States remained a nonmember observer.
UNESCO's budget has been under strain in recent years due to a lack of funding from member states.
U.S. officials have said that rejoining UNESCO will help the U.S. to promote its vision of a free world and to counter the influence of China in the digital age.The U.S. rejoining UNESCO is a sign that the country is committed to multilateralism and to working with other countries to address global challenges.
Click here for the full article
The United States will rejoin the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in July 2023, after withdrawing in 2017. The move comes after the U.S. Congress passed a bill in December 2022 that authorized financial contributions to UNESCO.
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| Audrey Azoulay, Director General |
“This is a strong act of confidence, in UNESCO and in multilateralism,” Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO’s director-general, said in a statement after announcing the U.S. decision to a meeting of representatives of the agency’s 193 members at its headquarters in Paris.
In 2011, the United States stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a full member. The move, made because of U.S. legislation mandating a complete cutoff of American financing to any United Nations agency that accepts Palestine as a full member, deprived the agency of nearly a fifth of its budget, forcing it to slash programs.
Then, in 2017, the Trump administration cited anti-Israel bias and mounting arrears when it took a step further and announced that it was withdrawing from UNESCO completely, although the United States remained a nonmember observer.
UNESCO's budget has been under strain in recent years due to a lack of funding from member states.
U.S. officials have said that rejoining UNESCO will help the U.S. to promote its vision of a free world and to counter the influence of China in the digital age.The U.S. rejoining UNESCO is a sign that the country is committed to multilateralism and to working with other countries to address global challenges.
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