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US withdraws UNESCO funding |
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| Posted on Novermber 02, 2011 | Back to news home | |
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US withdraws UNESCO funding The United States has withdrawn its funding to UNESCO, the UN's cultural arm, after it defied the White House by voting overwhelmingly to accept the Palestinian Authority as a full member. Throwing the future of the body into doubt, the US State Department announced a halt to funding of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation just hours after it became the first UN body effectively to grant the right of statehood to the Palestinian people. The Vote At the vote on Monday, just 14 states voted against Palestinian membership, with 107 backing the bid, easily clearing the two-thirds majority needed for the Palestinian Authority to become a member of any UN body for the first time. However, Britain, along with 51 other members, abstained. For the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, the result represented a significant symbolic victory in the controversial quest for statehood. Implication But in accepting his application during an emotional vote at its headquarters in Paris, UNESCO will pay a heavy price. Washington provides the body with nearly 50 million euros in annual funding, nearly 22 percent of its budget. The State Department said that a 43 million euros payment due to be made this month will now be withheld. Reports say the Obama administration has also accused UNESCO of doing lasting damage to the Middle East peace process by rejecting US and Israeli demands to oppose the Palestinian bid. A White House spokesman, Jay Carney, was quoted as saying that "the vote at UNESCO to admit the Palestinian Authority is premature and undermines the international community's shared goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East." He however added that "The path to peace is through negotiations."
Telegraph/ Adekusibe/Williams |
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