TimesAsiaNews.com | The U.S. will rejoin UNESCO, the U.N.’s cultural organization, next month, the agency said, after a decade of turbulent relations. The U.S. is trying to keep China from filling the vacuum it left behind when it withdrew from UNESCO in 2017.
The move will give UNESCO, or the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, a much-needed boost: The U.S. stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a full member. That cut UNESCO’s budget by nearly a fifth and forced it to slash programs.
Why now? In March, John Bass, the under secretary of state for management, said the U.S. absence from UNESCO had strengthened China and undercut “our ability to be as effective in promoting our vision of a free world.” He said quoting The New York Times, on Tuesday, June 13, 2023.
He also said UNESCO played a crucial role in shaping technology and science: “So if we’re really serious about the digital-age competition with China, we can’t afford to be absent any longer.”
UNESCO designates World Heritage sites, like Angkor in Cambodia, and keeps a list of “intangible cultural heritage,” like the French baguette. It also promotes sex education, literacy, clean water and equality for women. (tnyts/tans)
