UNESCO chief says US withdrawal is ‘regrettable’ but not unexpected

July 25, 2023 in Paris. (AP/Aurelien Morissard, Pool)
The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization says the “regrettable” US withdrawal from the body was expected, “and UNESCO has prepared for it.”

Director General Audrey Azoulay says in a statement that the decision will take effect in December 2026, and that, after the organization diversified its funding sources, the US contribution represents only 8% of UNESCO’s total budget.

UNESCO is not considering layoffs in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s decision to leave, says Azoulay.

Azoulay, a Jewish former minister of culture in France, says that “the situation has changed profoundly” from 2017, when Trump pulled out in his first term.

“Political tensions have receded, and UNESCO today constitutes a rare forum for consensus on concrete and action-oriented multilateralism,” says Azoulay.

White House officials told The New York Post that the Trump administration took issue with the agency’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, and its pro-Palestinian and pro-Chinese leanings.

In her statement, Azoulay highlights UNESCO’s work in Holocaust education and fighting antisemitism.

UNSECO’s work “has been unanimously acclaimed by major specialized organizations such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, the World Jewish Congress and its American Section, and the American Jewish Committee,” says Azoulay. “UNESCO has supported 85 countries in implementing tools and training teachers to educate students about the Holocaust and genocides, and to combat Holocaust denial and hate speech.”

Israel pulled funding from UNESCO in 2011 and left the organization in 2019.