UNESCO has suspended the voting rights of the United States, two years after it stopped paying dues to the UN’s cultural arm in protest over its granting full membership to the Palestinians, according to a UNESCO source.
The US has not paid its dues to UNESCO due to the decision by world governments to make Palestine a UNESCO member in 2011. Israel suspended its dues at the same time and also lost voting rights on Friday.
Under UNESCO rules, the US had until Friday morning to resume funding or explain itself, or it automatically loses its vote. A UNESCO official, who was not authorised to speak publicly about the issue, said nothing was received from either the US or Israel.
“Nothing was received from the United States,” the source said. Two separate diplomatic sources also confirmed the deadline had been missed.
The US decision of not paying UNESCO was blamed on US laws that prohibit funding to any United Nations agency that implies recognition of Palestinian demands for their own state.
There was no immediate comment at the office of the US envoy to the UN agency, Al Jazeera informs.
