What is Unesco, what are World Heritage sites and when was the UN agency formed?
UNESCO is a key part of the United Nations and aims to promote peace through educational, scientific and cultural reforms.
The US has said it is leaving the group in December over what they described as anti-Israel bias. Here's everything you need to know about Unesco.
What is Unesco?
Unesco, or The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation, is a special agency within the UN (United Nations).
After the UN was founded in 1943, Ministers of Education from China, The UK, US and USSR came together to agree that the world needed to establish an educational and cultural organisation.
Unesco was created in 1945 with the firm belief that, forged by two world wars in less than a generation, political and economic alliances were not enough to build world peace.
In this sense, peace must be established on the basis of humanity and our moral and intellectual solidarity to one another.
It is from this understanding that Unesco's mission can be truly understood: "UNESCO’s mission is to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information."
What achievements has Unesco accomplished?
Unesco's challenges have change over the years. Among its major achievements was the organisation's work against racism, which concluded in 1978 with the Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice - this document essentially states that all human beings, no matter where they are from, are equal.
So powerful was Unesco's challenge to systemic racism globally that South Africa withdrew from Unesco because of "conflicting interests" - it rejoined in 1994 after Nelson Mandela was elected president and segregation was truly over.
In 1960 Unesco launched something called the Nubia Campaign in Egypt to move the great Temple of Abu Simbel to keep it from being swamped by the Nile Delta. Over a period of 20 years, 22 monuments and architectural complexes were moved.
Since then, many campaigns have echoed these achievements including those in Kathmandu, Nepal and The Acropolis in Greece.
The World Heritage Committee was established in 1976 and the first sites on the World Heritage List were inscribed in 1978 - they include the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador and Yellowstone National Park in the US.
What are some examples of Unesco World Heritage sites?
Stonehenge
Stonehenge was ascribed World Heritage Site status in 1986 for being outstanding prehistoric monuments.
Stonehenge is the most architecturally sophisticated prehistoric stone circle in the world and Avebury is the largest. Stonehenge is also the best-known prehistoric monument across Europe
They saw about 2000 years of continuous use from 3700 to 1600 BC and crossed both Neolithic and Bronze Ages.
As an English Heritage site you can visit Stonehenge and Avebury seven days a week.
Le Mont Saint-Michel
Le Mont Saint-Michel is perched upon a rocky inlet amid a vast sandbank off the coast of Normandy.
Atop is the inlet is a Gothic Benedictine abbey which is dedicated to the archangel Saint Michael - it was built between the 11th and 16th centuries. A commune grew around around the well-fortified abbey and is still active to this day.
The island itself has been home to strategic fortifications since the 8th century. During the Hundred Years' War against England, Mont Saint Michel was never conquered - the island can only be reached in low tide, as the water rolls in the fortification becomes impenetrable.
There are over 60 buildings inside the commune most of them are protected by France as "monuments historiques".
The Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is situated on the north-earth coast of Australia and is a site of incredible variety of natural beauty.
It contains over 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc.
As the world's most extensive coral reef ecosystem, the Great Barrier Reef is an outstanding and significant natural entity.
The reef in almost its entirety was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1981, an area which covers 348,000 square kilometres.
Unesco is currently trying to build up the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef in the face of climate change by improving water quality, reducing coastal habitat loss and encouraging modified fishing practices.
The Great Wall Of China
The Great Wall was built continuously from the 3rd century BC to the 17th century AD and stretches more than 20,000 kilometres.
When it was built it was the world's largest military structure ever and today it stands unparalleled as China's national symbol for keeping its people safe.
It was built to protect the Chinese empires from invaders in the north and reflects physical evidence of the far-sighted nature of political and strategic thinking in China.
Could the UK leave Unesco?
In November 2018, UK minister Penny Mordaunt told cabinet colleagues that she wants Britain to withdraw from Unesco.
The international development secretary believes the organisation does meet her department’s spending criteria for international aid.
Britain gives £11.1m of annual funding to Unesco which Mordaunt’s team ranks as its worst performing multilateral agency.
She is reportedly considering ending funding by the end of 2019 sparking concern from colleagues who believe such a move would go against the government’s desire to build a “global Britain” after Brexit.
Why did the US quit?
The US announced it was to leave Unesco after repeatedly accusing the UN agency of anti-Israel bias.
The State Department announced its intention to withdraw and become a permanent observer instead.
In a statement, it said: "This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organisation, and continuing anti-Israel bias at Unesco."
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While the US stopped funding Unesco after it voted to include Palestine as a member in 2011, the State Department has maintained a UNESCO office at its Paris headquarters and sought to weigh in on policy behind the scenes.
The head of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, voiced "profound regret" over the decision, calling it a "loss to multilateralism".
The US pulled out of UNESCO in the 1980s because Washington viewed it as mismanaged and used for political reasons, then rejoined it in 2003 under George Bush.
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