UNESCO Called to Account

When the United States withdrew from UNESCO at the end of last year, many Western Europeans believed the American move would shock the organization into changing its leftist policies. So far nothing of the sort has happened. In the early months of 1985, UNESCO— the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization—continued to plot a course that headed steadily to the left. Nothing has been done, for example, to halt UNESCO’s program for government control of news organizations. Matters came to a head in mid-April when Gérard Bollo, UNESCO’s deputy director general and chief spokesman, announced his resignation because efforts to change the organization’s policies and administrative practices were moving too slowly. But despite this vote of no confidence from one of UNESCO’s own, Western Europe is far from united in regard to the organization.

Britain has informed UNESCO that it will be leaving at the end of the year unless certain policy changes have been adopted by then. The Netherlands and Belgium have expressed their dissatisfaction to Amadou Mahtar M’Bow, the Senegalese director general of the organization, but they haven’t threatened to withdraw. West Germany has taken much the same position.

EK

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Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn

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When the United States withdrew from UNESCO at the end of last year, many Western Europeans believed the American move would shock the organization into changing its leftist policies. So far nothing of the sort has happened. In the early months of 1985, UNESCO— the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization—continued to plot a course that headed steadily to the left. Nothing has been done, for example, to halt UNESCO’s program for government control of news organizations. Matters came to a head in mid-April when Gérard Bollo, UNESCO’s deputy director general and chief spokesman, announced his resignation because efforts to change the organization’s policies and administrative practices were moving too slowly. But despite this vote of no confidence from one of UNESCO’s own, Western Europe is far from united in regard to the organization.

Britain has informed UNESCO that it will be leaving at the end of the year unless certain policy changes have been adopted by then. The Netherlands and Belgium have expressed their dissatisfaction to Amadou Mahtar M’Bow, the Senegalese director general of the organization, but they haven’t threatened to withdraw. West Germany has taken much the same position.