PARIS: The UN cultural and scientific agency UNESCO announced on Monday that the United States plans to rejoin and pay more than USD 600 million in back dues after a decade-long dispute sparked by the organisation’s move to include Palestine as a member.
US officials say the decision to return was motivated by concern that China is filling the gap left by the US in UNESCO policymaking, notably in setting standards for artificial intelligence and technology education around the world.
The US and Israel stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member state in 2011, and the Trump administration decided in 2017 to withdraw from the agency altogether the following year, citing long-running anti-Israel bias and management problems.
The return of the US, once the agency’s biggest funder, is expected to face a vote by its 193 member states next month, according to a UNESCO diplomat.
China’s ambassador to UNESCO, Jin Yang, said his country “appreciates” UNESCO’s efforts to bring the US back, saying its absence had a “negative impact” on the agency’s work.
The US decision to come back “is the result of five years of work, during which we calmed tensions, notably in the Middle East, improved our response to contemporary challenges, resumed major initiatives on the ground and modernised the functioning of the organisation,” an official said.
Under the plan, the US government would pay its 2023 dues plus $10 million in bonus contributions this year earmarked for Holocaust education, preserving cultural heritage in Ukraine, journalist safety, and science and technology education in Africa.