The Paris-headquartered Unesco has 194 member states around the world, and is best known for listing world heritage sites
The US has said it will leave the United Nations’ culture and education agency UNESCO, accusing it of supporting “woke, divisive cultural and social causes”.
UNESCO’s Director General Audrey Azoulay described the decision as “regrettable” but “anticipated”.
The move is the latest step in the Trump administration’s efforts to cut ties with international bodies, after removing the US from the World Health Organisation and Paris Climate Agreement, as well as cutting funding for foreign relief efforts.
UNESCO has 194 member states around the world, and is best known for listing world heritage sites. The US’ decision will take effect from December 2026.
The state department said UNESCO’s “globalist, ideological agenda for international development” was “at odds with our America First foreign policy”.
It also described the inclusion of the Palestinians in UNESCO in 2011 as “highly problematic, contrary to US policy, and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organisation”.
Those claims “contradict the reality of UNESCO’s efforts, particularly in the field of Holocaust education and the fight against antisemitism,” the organisation’s head Audrey Azoulay said.
“This decision contradicts the fundamental principles of multilateralism, and may affect first and foremost our many partners in the United States of America— communities seeking site inscription on the World Heritage List, Creative City status, and University Chairs,” she added.
The Unesco head said the agency had been preparing for Washington’s move, diversifying its sources of funding. Currently, she said, UNESCO was getting about 8% of its budget from the US.
In 2017, during his first presidency, Trump pulled the US out of UNESCO, but the decision was later reversed under Joe Biden’s administration.
During the Obama administration, in 2011, the US halted $60m in funds that had been earmarked for UNESCO.
A state department spokesperson at the time said former President Barack Obama’s hand was forced due to a US law that prohibited the transfer of funds after UNESCO granted the Palestinian Authority full membership.
The Paris-based UN agency was set up in November 1945 – shortly after World War Two – to promote peace and security through global co-operation in education, arts, sciences and culture.
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