UNESCO General Conference Accepts U.S. Membership Proposal

This week, UNESCO members met for an extraordinary session of the organization’s General Conference to consider a U.S. proposal that would allow the United States to rejoin the organization with full membership privileges and restore U.S. leadership on a host of issues of importance and value to the American people.

In pursuing full membership with UNESCO, the United States makes clear its commitment to multilateralism and diplomacy on critical issues, including protection of journalists, expanding access to education, shaping best practices on new and emerging technologies, protecting cultural heritage, and remembering the immeasurable toll of the Holocaust to ensure such atrocities never happen again.

I am encouraged and grateful that today the membership accepted our proposal, which will allow the United States to take the next, formal steps toward fully rejoining the organization.

As President Biden has frequently noted, the United States is stronger, safer, and more prosperous when we engage with the rest of the world and when we seek cooperation, collaboration, and partnership.  By rejoining UNESCO, the United States would reinforce that message and restore our leadership in a vital international space.