Trump pulls US out of Unesco in blow to culture and education agency

President first withdrew from UN body in 2017, a decision reversed by Joe Biden 2023

Unesco headquarters in Paris. The agency has diversified its sources of funding, receiving only about 8 per cent of its budget from Washington. AFP

The US announced on Tuesday it is once again leaving Unesco, accusing the UN cultural and education agency of bias against Israel and promoting “divisive” causes.

“Continued involvement in Unesco is not in the national interest of the United States,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement.

The agency, best known for designating World Heritage sites, has long been a point of contention for Washington, which has criticised its resolutions seen as hostile to Israel.

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President Donald Trump pulled out of Unesco in 2017 during in his first term, only for his successor Joe Biden to rejoin in 2023.

The agency's director general Audrey Azoulay said she deeply regretted President Donald Trump's decision to pull the US out of Unesco.

“The reasons put forward by the United States to withdraw from the organisation are the same as seven years ago, even though the situation has changed profoundly, political tensions have receded and Unesco today constitutes a rare forum for consensus on concrete and action-orientated multilateralism," she said in a statement.

Ms Bruce described Unesco as working “to advance divisive social and cultural causes” and being overly focused on UN sustainability goals, which she described as a “globalist, ideological agenda”.

She also cited what she said was the organisation's anti-Israeli position in admitting Palestine as a state.

“Unesco's decision to admit the 'State of Palestine' as a member state is highly problematic, contrary to US policy, and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organisation,” Ms Bruce said.

US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, warned that withdrawing from Unesco would allow China to exert greater international influence.

"When President Trump withdrew the United States from Unesco during his first term, we saw what happened – China became the largest financial contributor, increased its staff at the agency and advanced its Belt and Road Initiative," she said in a statement.

Ms Azoulay said the withdrawal contradicts the "fundamental principles of multilateralism" and may have a domestic impact, as communities seek admission to the the World Heritage list or creative city status.

The agency had diversified its sources of funding, receiving only about 8 per cent of its budget from Washington, said Ms Azoulay.

She pledged that Unesco will carry out its missions despite “inevitably reduced resources.” The agency said that it is not considering any staff layoffs at this stage.

Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon praised the withdrawal. "The US decision is a fitting response to the consistent misguided anti-Israel bias of Unesco, an organisation that has lost its way," he said.

He added that the US "continues to demonstrate moral clarity in the international arena" by reassessing its financial support for international bodies.