The United States will join UNESCO, a scientific and educational organization created by the United Nations in 1945 to safeguard cultural heritage, and pay more than $600 million in arrears. This decision is motivated by fears that China will fill the role previously occupied by the United States in the agency and thus play a major role in the development of UNESCO policies, in particular with regard to setting global standards for artificial intelligence and technology education. The United States, then under the Trump administration, retired in 2017 alongside Israel. Both countries cited the costs of participation as well as an “anti-Israeli bias” on the part of UNESCO, which allowed Palestine to join in 2011, as reasons for their departure.
UNESCO member states are expected to vote on restoring the country’s membership in the coming weeks. Approval is considered highly likely, given that no country opposed the suggested return, announced on June 12 at the agency’s Paris headquarters. The United States was at one time the organization’s largest funder.
Audrey Azoulay, director-general of UNESCO since 2017, is widely credited with paving the way for the United States’ return. US Under Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard Verma, in a letter delivered to Azoulay last week formalizing the United States’ plan to join, praised his efforts to depoliticize and reform the management of the organization. Azoulay, who is Jewish, has worked to build consensus among Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli diplomats on what Associated Press described as “sensitive” UNESCO resolutions, and then met personally with members of Congress to explain his efforts. Azoulay’s membership in both parties means that long-term membership in the United States is likely assured, regardless of who wins the 2024 presidential election.
“This is a historic moment for UNESCO,” Azoulay said June 12. “It is also an important day for multilateralism.”
