New Delhi: The United States has announced its decision to rejoin United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) after it had formally severed ties with the UN body in 2017 under the Trump administration.
Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, made the announcement in the presence of representatives of its 193 member states on Monday, June 13, at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. She said that a concrete financing plan has been agreed upon by the US, according to which it will pay $ 600 million in back dues to UNESCO. The US was UNESCO’s largest financier until 2011, contributing around 22% of UNESCO’s annual budget every year.
The United States, along with its ally Israel, cut off its financing to UNESCO in 2011 after it made Palestine its member. In the following years, the US distanced itself from the UN body progressively before snapping its ties completely in 2017. The Trump administration had cited long-running alleged anti-Israel bias and the management problems within UNESCO as the reasons for the pullout. According to US national law, UN agencies which recognise Palestine as their member will not receive funds.
While the Palestine issue had prompted the US to walk out from UNESCO, the decision of the US to rejoin the institution has been prompted by concerns over China influencing policy-making in its absence, especially with regard to artificial intelligence and technology education around the world.
According to Associated Press, undersecretary of state for management, John Brass, had said in March this year that the US’s absence from UNESCO had strengthened China, and “undercuts our ability to be as effective in promoting our vision of a free world”. He had also said UNESCO was key in setting and shaping standards for technology and science teaching around the world, “so if we’re really serious about the digital-age competition with China … we can’t afford to be absent any longer”.
Even US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, had echoed the same views in March, stating that the US absence allowed China to write the rules on artificial intelligence. “I very much believe we should be back in UNESCO – again, not as a gift to UNESCO, but because things that are happening at UNESCO actually matter,” Blinken told a Senate committee when he presented the budget, according to DW News. “They are working on rules, norms and standards for artificial intelligence. We want to be there.”
Against this backdrop, the decision from the US to rejoin UNESCO assumes geopolitical significance. In the coming weeks, member states of UNESCO will participate in a vote to formalise the reinduction of the US, which is mostly a mere formality given that not even a single country has raised objection so far.
Last week, US deputy secretary of state for management and resources Richard Verma submitted a letter to Azoulay formalising the plan to rejoin. He noted progress in “depoliticizing debate about the Middle East and reforming the agency’s management”, according to the hand-delivered letter, the Associated Press reported.
Azoulay described the development as a reflection of faith being reposed by the world in UNESCO’s “multilateralism”. “This is a strong act of confidence, in UNESCO and in multilateralism. Not only in the centrality of the Organization’s mandate – culture, education, science, information – but also in the way this mandate is being implemented today,” she said, according to a press release issued by UNESCO.
It further added, “The return of the United States was made possible by the agreement reached by Congress in December 2022 authorizing financial contributions to UNESCO. The U.S. had suspended its contributions in 2011 due to domestic legislation, before notifying UNESCO of its decision to legally withdraw on 12 October 2017.”
The US has stayed clear of mentioning the Palestine issue in any of its explanations provided for rejoining UNESCO. Neither has the Palestinian ambassador to UNESCO commented on the re-induction of the US.
Meanwhile, China has commented on the development, saying it hopes that the US is “serious” about multilateralism. “Being a member of an international organisation is a serious issue, and we hope that the return of the US this time means it acknowledges the mission and the goals of the organisation,” the Chinese ambassador to UNESCO said.
This is not the first time when the US will rejoin UNESCO, for it left the UN body in 1983 under Ronald Reagan’s presidency and rejoined it later in 2003 under the Bush administration. It had quit UNESCO in 1983 citing mismanagement, corruption and advancement of Soviet interests by UNESCO. When it had rejoined in 2003, the US said it was rejoining to “emphasize a message of international cooperation” as the US launched its war on Iraq.