I quote from an article in the Chicago Tribune:
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UNESCO is in its "worst ever financial situation" after its biggest contributor the United States froze funding last year, the director general of the United Nations' cultural agency said on Thursday.
The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization was plunged into crisis in October 2011 when Washington, an ally of Israel, cancelled its grant in protest at the body's decision to grant the Palestinians full membership.
The U.N. body had been forced to slash spending, freeze job hires and cut programs after losing the U.S. funding, which had made up 22 percent of its budget, UNESCO's Irina Bokova told reporters.
The organization, which designates World Heritage sites, promotes global education and supports press freedom among other tasks, had started the year with a deficit of $150 million out of $653 million for its budget over 2012 and 2013, Bokova said.
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1 comment:
The United States has a moral and ethical obligation as the world's only superpower to help fund the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization. The premise upon which UNESCO was founded in 1945 was that political and economic alliances are simply not enough to keep the world from the horrors like those brought about by the First and Second World Wars. UNESCO and the UN need the United States to light the path to justice and freedom, just as it did in 1950 in its efforts to help form the United Nations. The peoples of the world do not naturally beat their swords into plow shares. They need the leadership of the United Nations and UNESCO. The United States was a 22% supporter of UNESCO's budget before freezing contributions in 2011. We canot give up now. We have come so far and overcome so much. Now is the time to harden our resolve for World Peace and continue to fund great iconic organizations such as the United Nations and UNESCO.
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