ICMA Statement: United States withdrawal from UNESCO

The ICMA is alarmed and saddened by the announcement on 12 October 2017 that the United States will withdraw from UNESCO in 2018. The United States was one of the founding members of UNESCO in 1945, and it was the first state to ratify the World Heritage Convention in 1972. The withdrawal of the United States is an abandonment of core principles, many times asserted in the United States, of the protection of common heritage, both natural and cultural, and it is a serious abdication of responsibility when heritage in that country and abroad has come increasingly under threat. We call upon the proper authorities to reverse this decision and to embrace even more fully a commitment to heritage worldwide.