Paris: The United States on Friday lost voting rights at UNESCO after it missed the crucial deadline to repay its debt to the world's cultural agency.
The U.S. hasn't paid its dues to the Paris-based U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in protest over 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, the Associated Press reported.
Under UNESCO rules, the U.S. had until Friday morning to resume funding or explain itself, or it automatically loses its vote. A UNESCO official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the issue, said nothing was received from either the U.S. or Israel.
The suspension of U.S. contributions, which account for $80 million a year - 22 percent of UNESCO's overall budget - brought the agency to the brink of a financial crisis and forced it to cut or scale back American-led initiatives such as Holocaust education and tsunami research over the past two years.
The Palestinian Ambassador to UNESCO, Elias Sanbar, said other countries are beginning to make up for the U.S. shortfall.
"Is this in the interest of the U.S., to be replaced?" he asked.
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova lamented the changes that are not only seeing America silenced within her organization but also bringing UNESCO financially to its knees.
"I regret to say that I'm seeing, in these last two years ... a declining American influence and American involvement," Bokova told The Associated Press.
"I can't imagine how we could disengage with the United States at UNESCO. We are so intertwined with our message. What I regret is that this decision became so divisive and triggered this suspension of the funding," she added.
Bokova said she accepts political reality and would find ways for UNESCO to continue its work, despite a 2014 budget that's down by an estimated $150 million.
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