Opinion | To China, UNESCO will be better with US as a partner

By Augustus K. Yeung

INTRODUCTION

Former US president Donald J. Trump said he was out to "make America great." But he pulled America out of UNESCO, among other blunders.

Fortunately for the United Nations, two years after assuming presidency it's President Joe Biden that has made America great. Here is an example.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard Verma hand-delivered a letter last week to UNESCO Director General Audrey Azulay formalizing the plan to rejoin.

What happened?

"Applause rang out in the solemn UNESCO auditorium as Azulay announced the plan to ambassadors at a special meeting yesterday and delegate after delegate stood up to welcome the news," I presume that included the Chinese.

Why the euphoria? This is a triumph for humanity and, of course, for the United States under the leadership of Joe Biden whose decades of experience in the U.S. Senate will help to inspire some new members to be less combatant and more cooperative.

Read the following excerpt: you'll be pleased to find more good news for the third world's underdogs.

U.S. decision to rejoin UNESCO breathes life into the organization

UN cultural and scientific agency UNESCO announced yesterday that the United States plans to rejoin – and pay more than $600 million in back dues – after a decade-long dispute sparked by the organization's move to include Palestine as a member.

White House officials say, "the decision to return was motivated by concern that China is filling the gap left by the U.S. in UNESCO policymaking, notably in setting standards for artificial intelligence and technology education around the world."

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard Verma hand-delivered a letter last week to UNESCO Director General Audrey Azulay, formalizing the plan to rejoin.

"Applause rang out in the solemn UNESCO auditorium as Azulay announced the plan to ambassadors at a special meeting yesterday, and delegate after delegate stood up to welcome the news – and the new influx of money."

The return of the U.S., once the agency's biggest funder, is expected to face a vote by its 193 member states next month.

The decision is a big financial boost to UNESCO known for its World Heritage program – as well as projects to fight climate change and teach girls to read.

(Note: The U.S. and Israel stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member state in 2011, and both countries lost their voting rights in 2013. The Trump administration decided in 2017 to withdraw from the agency altogether the following year, citing anti-Israel bias and management problems.)

In his letter last week, Verma noted efforts by UNESCO toward management reform, and "decreasing politicized debate, especially on Middle East issues." A delegation from Washington went to Paris last week to hand-deliver the letter, obtained by the AP.

Since her election in 2017, Azulay has worked to address the reasons the U.S. left, through budget reforms and building consensus among Jordanian, Palestine and Israel diplomats around sensitive UNESCO resolutions.

U.S. decision to rejoin is motivated by "competition with China in the digital-age…"

The U.S. decision to come back "is the result of five years of work, during which we calmed tensions, notably on the Middle East, improved our response to contemporary challenges, resumed major initiatives on the ground and modernized the functioning of the organization." Azulay said.

She met with Democrats and Republicans in Washington to explain those efforts, according to a UNESCO diplomat. Thanks to those bipartisan negotiations, UNESCO diplomats expressed confidence that the U.S. decision to return is for the long term, regardless of who wins next year's presidential election.

Under the plan, the U.S. 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, Verma's letter says.

The Biden administration has already requested $150 million for the 2024 budget to go toward UNESCO dues and arrears. The plan foresees similar requests for the ensuing years until the full debt of $619 million is paid off.

That makes up a big chunk of UNESCO's $534 million annual operating budget. Before leaving, the U.S. contributed 22% of the agency's overall funding.

Undersecretary of State for Management John Bass said in March that the U.S. absence from UNESCO has strengthened China, and "undercuts our ability to be as effective in promoting our vision of a free world."

He said UNESCO is key in setting and shaping standards for technology and science teaching around the world, "so if we're really serious about the digital-age competition with China…we can't afford to be absent any longer."

The U.S. absence plunged the agency into financial uncertainly. UNESCO diplomats described belt-squeezing across agency programs.

One diplomat expressed hope that the return of the U.S. would bring "more ambition, and more serenity" – and energize programs to regulate artificial intelligence, educate girls in Afghanistan and chronicle victims of slavery in the Caribbean. (Source: MDT/AP)

CONCLUSION

UNESCO is the institution in which the US and China can work together or even compete for the benefits of mankind. It provides people-to-people contacts, as Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader has often encouraged.

The US membership also helps to solve the organization's financial problems which would certainly improve the morale of its workers.

It will certainly strengthen the United Nations, a world body which China is keen to keep improving to correct its shortcomings.

Since the 1950s, the UN has been under the influence of the United States, which commanded troops in the name of the United Nations in the Korean war.

Today's UN certainly has improved, and it would not be satisfactory to function without the United States, a major partner.

Naturally, China welcomes the US to rejoin UNESCO. It hopes to be working closely with President Joe Biden's ambassador for the cultural and educational promotion of the interests of the developing countries.

 

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

Read more articles by Augustus K. Yeung:

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