Indonesia donates funds to UNESCO

The Indonesian government has donated 6 million U.S. dollar funds to help fund the cash-strapped United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) and plans to give other 4 million U.S. dollars soon, media reported here on Monday. Education and Culture Minister Muhammad Nuh transferred the 6 million U.S. dollars on the sidelines of UNESCO's executive board meeting in Paris on March 2. "The donation may be used to fund UNESCO's activities in the Southeast Asia region, Africa and Palestine," Nuh was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying. The organization's budget has been slashed after several top donors, including the U.S. and Israel, pulled the plug on their funding to UNESCO in protest of the decision to admit Palestine into the organization in early 2011. UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova witnessed the handover. The second installment of the donation will be handed over next year via a trust fund managed by both parties.