Global Courant
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The United Nations Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization has agreed to allow the United States back into membership.
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UNESCO’s board of directors on Friday voted 132 to 10 in favor of the US proposal to rejoin the Paris-based agency. America’s membership will become official once Secretary of State Antony Blinken or a designee formally accepts the invitation, Biden administration officials said.
Russian, Palestinian and North Korean representatives on Thursday held up consideration of the US proposal with hours of procedural delays. That session was adjourned due to the fatigue of the UNESCO interpreters.
In addition to Russia, North Korea and the Palestinians, Belarus, China, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Nicaragua and Syria were among those who voted against the US takeover.
The Biden administration had announced in early June that it would apply to rejoin the organization, primarily because it feared China was filling a gap left by the US’s absence from the body. The 193-member UNESCO plays an important role in setting international standards for artificial intelligence and technology education around the world.
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The Trump administration announced in 2017 that the US would withdraw from UNESCO, citing anti-Israel bias. That decision that came into effect a year later.
The US and Israel stopped funding UNESCO after it voted in 2011 to include Palestine as a member state.
The Biden administration has requested $150 million for the 2024 budget to go towards UNESCO contributions and arrears. The plan provides for similar requests for subsequent years until the entire $619 million debt is paid off.
That makes up a large part of UNESCO’s annual operating budget of $534 million. Before they left, the US contributed 22% of the agency’s total funding.
Israel has long accused the United Nations of anti-Israel bias. In 2012, despite Israeli objections, the State of Palestine was recognized by the General Assembly as a non-observer state. The Palestinians claim the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip — areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war — for an independent state. Israel says the Palestinians’ efforts to gain recognition at the UN are aimed at circumventing a negotiated settlement and are intended to pressure Israel into concessions.
The United States withdrew from UNESCO in 1984 under the Reagan administration because it viewed the agency as mismanaged, corrupt and used to further Soviet interests. It rejoined in 2003 during the presidency of former President George W. Bush.
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Associated Press writer Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.
