US president Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the UN culture and education agency Unesco on Tuesday, repeating a move he had ordered during his first term, which had been reversed under Joe Biden.
The withdrawal from the Paris-based agency, which was founded after the second World War to promote peace through international co-operation in education, science and culture, will take effect on December 31st, 2026.
“President Trump has decided to withdraw the United States from Unesco – which supports woke, divisive cultural and social causes that are totally out of step with the commonsense policies that Americans voted for in November,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.
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The US state department said remaining in Unesco was not in the national interest, accusing it of having “a globalist, ideological agenda for international development at odds with our United States First foreign policy”.
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Unesco chief Audrey Azoulay said she deeply regretted Mr Trump’s decision, but that it was “expected, and Unesco has prepared for it”.
The agency had diversified its sources of funding, receiving only about 8 per cent of its budget from Washington, she said.
French president Emmanuel Macron wrote on the social media platform X: “Unwavering support for Unesco, universal protector of science, the ocean, education, culture, and world heritage.
“The withdrawal of the United States will not weaken our commitment to those who are fighting this battle.”
Unesco was one of several international bodies Mr Trump withdrew from during his first term, along with the World Health Organisation, the Paris agreement global climate change accord and the UN Human Rights Council. During his second term he has largely reinstated those steps.
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Unesco officials said the US withdrawal would have some limited impact on programmes the United States was financing.
Israel welcomed the US decision to quit Unesco.
The US state department said one of the reasons for the withdrawal was Unesco’s decision to admit Palestine as a member state, which was “contrary to US policy and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organisation”.
Unesco officials said all relevant agency statements had been agreed with Israel and the Palestinians over the past eight years.
“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-oriented multilateralism,” Ms Azoulay said.
“These claims also contradict the reality of Unesco’s efforts, particularly in the field of Holocaust education and the fight against anti-Semitism.”
Diplomats said it was felt at Unesco that the withdrawal was inevitable for political reasons, given that Mr Biden had brought the US back and had promised to repay arrears from the first time Mr Trump pulled out.
Unesco, whose full name is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, is best known for designating world heritage sites, including the Grand Canyon in the United States and the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria.
The US initially joined Unesco at its founding in 1945 but withdrew for the first time in 1984 in protest against alleged financial mismanagement and perceived anti-US bias, returning in 2003 under president George W Bush, who said the agency had undertaken needed reforms.
In 2011 the United States stopped funding Unesco after it voted to include Palestine as a full member. The move was because of US legislation requiring a complete cut-off of American financing to any UN agency that accepted Palestine on such terms. The lack of money deprived Unesco of nearly a fifth of its budget, forcing it to slash programs.
In 2017 the Trump administration went further and announced that it was withdrawing from the organisation, citing anti-Israel bias. The US remained a non-member observer after that.
Tammy Bruce, a US state department spokeswoman, said in a statement on Tuesday that continued involvement in Unesco was “not in the national interest of the United States”.
Ms Bruce accused the organisation of promoting “divisive social and cultural causes” and of maintaining an “outsized focus on the UN’s sustainable development goals, a globalist, ideological agenda for international development at odds with our America First foreign policy”.
She also cited “the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organisation” as one of the reasons for withdrawal. In the past, the organisation has faced similar accusations of political bias on matters related to Israel and the Palestinians. – Reuters
