US plans to rejoin UNESCO in July, says director general Audrey Azoulay

Paris: The US is planning to rejoin UNESCO in July 2023. Director General Audrey Azoulay confirmed the development and called it a "strong act of confidence in UNESCO and in multilateralism".

The US is a founding member of UNESCO and remained a major contributor to the international body's budget until 2011. After the UN body admitted Palestine as a member state, contributions were terminated under US law. In 2017, then-president Donald Trump said that the US is withdrawing itself from the organisation along with Israel and accused it of bias against the Jewish state. The membership ended in 2018.

Azoulay took charge as the head of UNESCO in 2017 and has made it a priority to bring the US back into the folds.

Richard Verma, the US deputy secretary of state for management and resources, wrote in a letter to Azoulay that Washington was grateful for the progress on significant issues including "decreasing focus on politicised debate."

In December 2022, the Joe Biden administration started restoring funding and set aside $150 million in the budget. Until the suspension of financial contributions in 2011, the US was paying about 22% of UNESCO's budget which amounted to $75 million.

In March 2023, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US absence from UNESCO was letting China write rules on artificial intelligence. "I very much believe we should be back in UNESCO -- again, not as a gift to UNESCO, but because things that are happening at UNESCO actually matter. They are working on rules, norms, and standards for artificial intelligence. We want to be there," he said while presenting the budget.

The proposed plan for Washington to rejoin UNESCO next month will be now submitted to the General Conference of UNESCO Member States for final approval.