THE U.S. NEEDS TO MAINTAIN ITS MEMBERSHIP IN UNESCO

During the past decades, the United States of America has had a mixed relationship with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Most recently, decisions by some UNESCO member states have led to increased congressional interest in U.S. funding of and participation in the organization. Established in 1946 in the aftermath of World War II, UNESCO aims to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among member states in the fields of education, science, and culture. The organization, which has a specialized agency relationship with the United Nations, is headquartered in Paris, France and composed of 195 member states. With an annual budget of about U.S.$ 326 million, its programs and activities encompass a wide array of issues, including literacy, media and Internet freedom, ocean management, and environmental and cultural preservation, among others. UNESCO supports more than 2,000 staff members working at its headquarters in Paris and 870 staff working in 65 field offices and institutes worldwide.

UNESCO maintains relationships with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), foundations, the private sector, and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs). More than 350 NGOs and 20 foundations have an official relationship with UNESCO, and many work with the organization on specific activities and programs at the local, national, and international level.

UNESCO also works with several hundred private companies and organizations through traditional philanthropic and sponsorship relationships, as well as strategic partnerships developed through shared resources and expertise. In addition, it collaborates with more than 80 IGOs including the European Union (EU) and various multilateral development banks, on specific programs and projects through formal agreements or ad hoc arrangements. UNESCO also partners and coordinates with other parts of the U.N. system through various system-wide coordination mechanisms and memoranda of understanding with other U.N. entities.

UNESCO's relationships with other organizations are strengthened by National Commissions established by member governments in their respective countries. The commissions aim to provide links among UNESCO and NGOs, the private sector, local and national governmentys, and the public in each country. Commission members, who are appointed by governments, provide insight on UNESCO programs, and help implement training programs, studies, public awareness campaigns, and media outreach. There are currently 198 National Commissions worldwide.

UNESCO activities are funded through a combination of assessed contributions by member states to the regular budget; voluntary contributions by member states, organizations, and others to special programs, and funds provided by partners such as other U.N. entities, NGOs and the private sector. The U.S. share of UNESO's regular budget is 22%. Other major contributors include Japan (15%), Germany (8%), United Kingdom (6.7%), France (6%), Italy (5.2%), Canada (3.4%), China (3.4%), Spain (3%), Mexico (2%), South Korea (2%).

The United States engages with UNESCO through the U.S. Mission to UNESCO which is located in Paris, France, and headed by a U.S. Permanent Representative. Mission staff, along with temporary staff from U.S. agencies and departments, work with other national delegations and subject-area experts to further U.S. policy priorities in UNESCO. Such priorities include combating illeteracy, improving water resource management, monitoring climate change, enhancing tsunami early warning systems, preserve world heritage sites and promoting free media worldwide. The United States also engages with and support the U.S. National Commission to UNESCO, which includes experts from non-governmental, federal, state, and local government sectors.

The United States is a member of the General Conference (GC) with full voting rights. However, the United States may lose its voting rights if it contuinues to withhold contributions. Article IV of the UNESCO constitution states that a member state shall have no vote in the GC if the total amount of contributions due exceeds the total amount of contributions payable by it for the current year and the immediately preceding calendar year. Thus, if the current U.S. withholding continues, the United States will owe assessments for two consecutive calendar years (2011 and 2012) in late 2013, and would be ineligible to vote in the next General Conference to be held from 5 November thru 20 November 2013. As a result, the United States may lose much of its influence in UNESCO fora. It may then choose to remain engaged with UNESCO to the extent that it can (while accumulating arrearages), or withdraw from the organization as it did in 1984.

As a member of UNESCO, the United States is assessed to pay 22% of the UNESCO regular budget, or roughly U.S.$ 80 million a year. This contribution is financed from the Contributions to International Organizations (CIO) account. The United States also makes voluntary contributions to selected UNESO programs, particularly the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and World Heritage Fund through the International Organizations and Programs (IO& P) account. (Both the accounts are typically funded through the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act.

U.S. withholding from UNESCO would most certainly have an impact on UNESCO programs and activities that the United States views as strategic priorities including holocaust education programs, tsunami warning systems, educational programs for women and girls, the World Heritage Conventions, and various training and literacy programs in the Middle East.

The role of UNESCO and multilateralism as a whole in U.S. foreign policy cannot be ignored.

• UNESCO plays a key role in global issues that the United States views a strategic priorities, particularly education, science, cultural heritage, and media freedom.
• U.S. participation in and funding of UNESCO allows the United States to influence the organization's budgets and activities, as well as pursue U.S. foreign policy objectives in key geographic regions such as the Middle East.
• UNESCO's programs to promote understanding across cultures are a critical asset in U.S. global effort to defeat the hatred that breeds terrorism.
• UNESCO works in promoting the free flow of information across political borders  that is integral to the success of global democratization.
• UNESCO allows the United States to constructively engage with other countries in a UN setting in the areas of education, science and culture.
• U.S. participation allows the government to share costs and resources with other governments and organizations.
• If the United States does not participate in or fund UNESCO, it leaves the door open to influence the scope and direction of UNESCO programs and many of these donor countries may not share the same values or foreign policy priorities of the United States.
• UNESCO's convening power and perceived neutrality particularly among developing countries enhances its effectiveness and credibility, allowing it to undertake challenges the United States could not address on its own.
• U.S. security can no longer be defined in purely military terms and the extremists' offensive against American cultural values need to be answered through school curriculums, working for tolerance and rationalism and the correcting of cultural misperceptions in foreign publics.
• UNESCO needs the U.S. membership for the universality, the weight of the U.S. democacy and the input of U.S. intellectuals.
• UNESCO needs the United States, but let us put it straight- the United States needs UNESCO no less.

One of the foremost issues policymakers may face is how, if at all, the United States will engage with the organization is the United States continues to withhold funding from UNESCO.