US to pay $600m to rejoin Unesco
By 
Rebecca Trager2023-06-15T13:30:00
US officials hope that restoring the country’s Unesco membership will counterbalance China’s influence
The US plans to rejoin the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) in July and will pay more than $600 million (£476 million) in back dues to the organisation, which aims to promote world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. The US – a founding member of Unesco – announced that it would withdraw from the organisation in late 2017 over a lengthy dispute that was triggered by Palestine being admitted as a member state seven years earlier.