Canada Mulls Leaving UNSECO over Palestine Membership

A file picture dated 25 October 2011 of the 36th session of UNESCO`s General Conference in Paris, France. EPA/BGNES

Canada may leave UNSESCO after the UN agency decided to accept Palestine as its member.

"We are in the process of evaluating our future participation" in UNESCO,Canada's Foreign Minister John Baird has declared, as cited by The Jerusalem Post.

"We are not happy with UNESCO's decision. We are working to determine what our response will be," he has added.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) accepted Palestine as the 195th member of its organization. During UNSECO's meeting in Paris on Monday, 107 countries voted in favor of the Palestinian bid, while 14 were against and 52 abstained.

The US, Canada and Germany voted against the Palestinian membership, while Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa and France voted in favor. Britain abstained.

On Monday, the US froze funding to UNESCO after it became the first UN organization to recognize Palestine as an independent state.

UNESCO Director General, Bulgarian Irina Bokova, has already expressed her concerns that the organization's decision to accept Palestine as a member might have "serious consequences". UNESCO's budget would have to be rebalanced and programs would have to be cut, Bokova admitted.

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