The United States officially accepted the Constitution of the United Nations Education, Culture and Science (UNESCO) on 10th July. From now on, it becomes, once more, a full member of UNESCO, which has 194 Member States.
“The return of the United States to UNESCO is complete: it has officially become a Member State of our Organization once again. This is excellent news for UNESCO. The momentum we have regained in recent years will now continue to grow. Our initiatives will be stronger throughout the world."
——Audrey Azoulay,
UNESCO Director-General
On Sunday, the Secretary of State of the United States of America called the Director-General of UNESCO to inform her that he had just signed the United States’ Document of Acceptance to the UNESCO Constitution. The document still needed to be formally deposited with the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the depositary of UNESCO's Constitution. This has now been done.
With the filing of this document, the United States became the 194th Member State of UNESCO.
“This is a historic moment. Our Organization is once again moving towards universality. I also want to share this victory for UNESCO with the entire United Nations family, because it is excellent news for multilateralism as a whole. If we want to meet the challenges of our century, there can only be a collective response."
——Audrey Azoulay,
UNESCO Director-General
More resources for UNESCO’s Initiatives
At the beginning of June, the United States announced its intention to rejoin UNESCO to Audrey Azoulay, praising the way in which the Organization had succeeded in modernizing itself in recent years. Among the reasons for their return, they highlighted the launch of new initiatives to tackle contemporary challenges (including a global ethical framework for artificial intelligence and ocean protection programmes), the implementation of management reforms that have made the Organization more efficient, and the mediation efforts that have eased internal political tensions, particularly over the Middle East.
“This is not only an excellent track record, but also a roadmap for the future. The return of the United States, and the additional resources that go with that, will help us to provide even better support for everyone around the world: pupils and students, researchers, academics, artists, educators, journalists - all those on whom our daily work is focused. UNESCO will also have more resources for its two strategic priorities, Africa and gender equality."——Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General