The U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO, Louise Oliver, has written to the Director General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, to clarify that the U.S. government officials "did not ask, and do not wish, to approve contacts with U.S. individuals or non-governmental organizations." As the United States resumed membership in UNESCO, and as the State Department prepared to represent the nation in UNESCO venues, State officials asked that UNESCO make them aware of its contacts with U.S. citizens and organizations. Ambassador Oliver clarified that the request was for information only, and its intent was to enable State to facilitate such contacts. Reports had come to her attention that some UNESCO staff might have misunderstood State's request and were needlessly complicating contacts with people from the United States.
With the clarification, we hope that U.S.-UNESCO linkages will continue to grow and strengthen rapidly!
Yudhijit Bhattacharjee has published a news story in Science mangazine about this clarification letter, including comments made by long time Americans for UNESCO friend, and AU Board mwmber Irving Lerch (who was speaking in his private capacity, and not for AU). Science 18 August 2006: Vol. 313. no. 5789, p. 900.
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