politics

Too little cash, too much politics, leaves UNESCO fighting for life

10 Comments
By John Irish

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so israel smashed one of the worlds best organisations for Educational, Scientific and Culture, which also has worldwide educational programs in developing countries just because they hate Palestinians?

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

And only last month, UNESCO agreed to work with Yahad-In Unum to recover evidence on the Holocaust.

But it’s obviously wiser to focus on the horrors of twentieth-century Europe than those of twenty-first century Israel and Palestine.

Got to keep those American supporters of Israel, thousands of miles away, happy....

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

The US owes 542mil out of a total of 650mil. Their annual due is 80mil, that means the US haven’t been paying for nearly 7 years and there’s also a possibility of default. How does the US stays the biggest contributor with debts?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

But a sudden announcement that the United States was quitting over anti-Israel bias meant that whoever wins the top job would inherit a body in turmoil, with huge questions over its future funding and mission.

But the US stopped funding UNESCO after 2011, so they have had 6 years of not having the US funds. I would have expected them to adjust by now.

Washington responded by halting payment of its annual $80 million in dues.

Its 2017 budget was about $326 million, almost half its 2012 budget.

So if the US portion was $80 million in 2012 and they currently are about $326 million below their 2012 budget then there must be a lot of other countries not paying their alloted amount. Why aren't we hearing more about those countries and their reasons for not paying their allocation?

At this stage, UNESCO officials still don't know if the United States will make up its arrears before it officially exits on Dec. 31, 2018.

Almost assuredly not. In 2012 a law was passed preventing the US from funding UN agencies that admitted Palestine, such as UNESCO. So I don't see how anyone would expect the US to violate its own laws to fund an agency that it is leaving.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

So US is complaining that because they are bigger, they should get more votes? Perhaps UNESCO funding could be achieved by the the UN directly. Don't pay dues to UN or withdraw from any UN agency, then default withdraw from UN and lose seat on security council. Lose all security council members, then UN will be by majority country vote too.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

If only the people had so much power. "Hey, I haven't paid my income taxes in 7 years and I don't agree with the endless undeclared war on terror, so I'm gonna withdraw from the US agencies. Ill still keep my property and membership in the US though." Yeah, okay.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

If only the people had so much power.

The UN is a voluntary organization and its agencies are also voluntary. Paying taxes in the place you live isn't voluntary. No comparison.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

This was always going to happen due to the silliness and politicization of UNESCO. One country one vote doesn’t work when you’ve got contributors like the US, Europe, and Japan paying dozens of countries’ worth of cash. Japan should not contribute to the budget until the politicization is resolved.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Money can easily be raised by placing a high price on all world heritage applications especially those from industrialised countries who are looking for increased revenue from tourism.

Unesco should aim to receive a percentage of the revenue.

Have every WH pay a monthly fee beside a onetime large application fee.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

placing a high price on all world heritage applications especially those from industrialised countries

So continue the practice of some countries paying more while each country only gets one vote. That is what lead to the current situation. If each country has the same power and vote then each country should pay the same amount.

Also UNESCO does a lot more than just designated WH sites, so try to fund it from WH site applications and revenue doesn't seem appropriate.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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