UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay announced the US’ forthcoming reintegration into UNESCO on Monday at a meeting that included delegates from all 193 UNESCO member states. The US will formally rejoin the organization in July 2023. This decision marks a turning point following a nearly five-year hiatus since the United States’ withdrawal from the organization in 2017, primarily driven by apprehensions surrounding the acceptance of Palestine as a member state.

The US’ commitment to rejoin UNESCO is based on a funding framework that will be considered by UNESCO’s member states, as articulated in a letter from the US Department of State to Azoulay. As part of this process, the United States has put forward a funding request of $150 million from its own budget for the upcoming year to address its dues and outstanding financial obligations. 

Presently, the proposed funding plan is slated to undergo evaluation and potential approval by UNESCO’s General Conference of Member States. The US owes the organization more than $600 million dollars in outstanding membership fees. 

The US’ reinstatement was facilitated by a congressionally approved agreement in December 2022, which authorized funding for the organization on the condition that doing so “would enable the United States to counter Chinese influence or to promote other national interests of the United States.”

China has continued to fund UNESCO and has helped coordinate some of the organization’s activities in Africa in the US’ absence.

The US suspended its financial support for UNESCO in 2011 due to two laws that prohibited the country from funding any international organization that affords full membership as a state to Palestine and “any organization or group that does not have the internationally recognized attributes of statehood.” The US subsequently withdrew from UNESCO on October 12, 2017.