The multilateralist vocation of the Biden Administration was reflected yesterday with the official return of the United States to UNESCO, the UN agency that deals with education, science and culture. During an extraordinary general conference at the organization’s headquarters in Paris, 132 states voted in favor, 10 opposed – including Russia, Syria, China, Iran and North Korea – and 15 abstained.
The return of the United States, which is responsible for financing 22% of Unesco’s base budget – the same quota that Washington pays to other UN entities – will mean significant relief for the organization’s coffers and a boost to its mission . It is a victory for the current director general, Audrey Azoulay, a Frenchwoman from a Moroccan family, who has successfully carried out an educational task to convince skeptical congressmen.
The first world power stopped paying quotas in 2011, during the mandate of Barack Obama, due to the entry of Palestine into Unesco. A federal law prohibited being in an entity that also included Palestine. In 2017, when Donald Trump was president, the exit took place. Israel left Unesco in 2018 and has not returned.
For his reinstatement, Washington proposed paying the 619 million dollars of unpaid quotas between 2011 and 2018. He will do it in installments, as he argued that budgetary difficulties prevent him from paying the outstanding amount at once. The current annual fee is about $75 million for Washington.
In order to pay off the debt little by little, the Biden Administration has committed to transfer 150 million dollars annually. In this year, 2023, it will even make an extra contribution of 10 million for some specific programs, including aid to Ukraine, which receives a lot of support from UNESCO to repair and protect its heritage damaged in the war, and also to lend a hand to journalists. who cover the conflict, even giving them bulletproof vests.
The Russian representative tried yesterday to delay the re-entry of the United States with amendments and procedural issues, but in the end the decision could not be avoided.
The United States has already left Unesco, for the first time, in 1984, during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, in the middle of the cold war, arguing that it was an organization that was not very useful, politicized and excessively expensive. In 2003, with Bush Jr., they re-entered.
Last March, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it was important to be at UNESCO because of the important things it does and to counter China’s influence on ethical regulations such as those affecting artificial intelligence.
