WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th July, 2023) Ambassador Erica Barks-Ruggles will represent the United States at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as the head of the mission following Washington's return to the organization, the State Department said in a statement.
"On July 14, 2023, Ambassador Erica Barks-Ruggles, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, was appointed to represent the United States at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as Head of the US Mission," the statement said on Monday.
Prior to the appointment, Barks-Ruggles served as Senior Bureau Official for the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Ambassador to the Republic of Rwanda, US Consul General in Cape Town, Deputy to the US Permanent Representative to the UN, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, the statement added.
On June 30, the member states of UNESCO voted in favor of the United States' return to the organization.
The United States was a founding member of UNESCO but withdrew its membership in 1984. It rejoined the organization in 2003 after an almost twenty-year absence to withdraw again in 2018. On June 12, 2023, the US sent a formal letter to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay requesting permission to rejoin.
