The reason, according to Blinken, is that China has an increasingly dominant role in Unesco, which, among other things, discusses rules for artificial intelligence.
— Unesco works with rules, norms and standards for artificial intelligence. We want to be there, Blinken said when he presented the US State Department’s budget proposal to a Senate committee.
The United States withdrew financial support to Unesco after the UN decided that the Palestinian Authority would be allowed to join as a member in 2011. Until then, the United States had accounted for about 22 percent of Unesco’s budget.
Former President Donald Trump chose to leave the UN body entirely as he believed that Unesco was biased against Israel.
— I believe that we should be part of Unesco, not as a gift to Unesco, but because what goes on in Unesco actually matters. Currently, China is the single largest contributor, while the United States is not even at the table, Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The proposal to pay 150 million dollars, corresponding to around 1.55 billion kroner, is included in the budget proposed by US President Joe Biden.