Chinese representative: The United States cannot engage in confrontation or division after returning to UNESCO | UNESCO | Conference | Member States | Return | United States | UNESCO | Organization
On June 30th, the special session of the UNESCO General Assembly passed a draft resolution allowing the United States to fully restore its membership in UNESCO in July of this year. After the vote was passed, Yang Jin, the Permanent Ambassador of China to UNESCO, emphasized that after the United States returns to UNESCO, it should contribute to promoting unity and cooperation within the organization, rather than engaging in confrontation and division.
Yang Jin said that the Chinese side demands that the US side, upon returning, fulfill its obligations and commitments, pay its dues in full and on time, and make up for all outstanding dues as soon as possible.
From June 29th to 30th, a special session of the UNESCO General Conference approved a draft resolution on financial issues related to the return of the United States as a member state to UNESCO. According to the press release released by the organization after the meeting, based on the above resolution, the United States will rejoin the organization as a member state in July this year, and has the right to participate in the voting of the 42nd session of the General Assembly and the election of members of the Executive Board.
According to the resolution, the United States will gradually repay its debts to UNESCO and provide a voluntary donation to fund the organization's projects in areas such as Holocaust education, journalist safety, and education in Africa. According to media reports, the United States has accumulated a debt of 619 million US dollars to UNESCO.
The United States withdrew from the organization twice in 1984 and 2018, receiving widespread criticism from the international community. In early June of this year, the US government sent a letter to UNESCO proposing plans to return to the organization as a member state.