UNESCO rejects Kosovo’s bid for membership

The United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO, narrowly rejected Kosovo's bid for membership Monday after Kosovo failed to receive the support of two-thirds of the body's member nations. Out of 142 votes, 92 were in favor of Kosovo's UNESCO membership, just three votes short of the 94 needed.  Fifty countries voted 'no,' while 22 others abstained from voting. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008 and has been recognized by more than 110 countries. UNESCO membership would have unlocked millions in funds for culture and education in the impoverished former Serbian province. India voted against membership of Kosovo in UNESCO.

Kosovo is a member of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the Olympic Committee, but has been struggling to join other international organizations due to Serbia's objections.

Benefits of becoming member of UNESCO:

• ensuring safeguarding of the cultural heritage at the international and national levels with a view to its continuity, transmission, development and scientific study;
• making a socio-cultural contribution to the sustainable development of the country or region;
• strengthening both local and national identities, and ensuring openness towards other cultures and respect for cultural diversity, a precious equilibrium in view of the socio-economic globalization of the modern world on the one hand and waves of intolerance on the other;
• fostering socio-cultural continuity between past, present and future generations;
• promoting and guiding forms of tourism which respect the intangible cultural heritage as a source of identity and social cohesion, as well as encouraging respect for and appreciation of cultural diversity;
• benefiting from a network of States Parties among which there is genuine international cooperation, assistance and exchanges of experience.

History of Kosovo: Kosovo, an impoverished land with a mainly Albanian population, unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, after years of strained relations between its Serb and Albanian inhabitants.

It has been recognised by the United States and major European Union countries, but Serbia, backed by its powerful ally Russia, refuses to do so, as do most ethnic Serbs inside Kosovo.

After the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, Serbia responded to separatist pressure from Kosovo by launching a brutal crackdown on the territory's Albanian population, which was only brought to an end by Nato military intervention in 1999.

Until 2008 the province was administered by the UN. Reconciliation between the majority Albanians, most of whom support independence, and the Serb minority remains elusive.

A landmark deal aimed at paving the way for the normalisation of relations was brokered by the EU in 2013. Under the agreement, ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo would have their own police and appeal court, but would vote for the same local government bodies as Albanians, ending separate, parallel Serb institutions funded by Belgrade.

In the deal, Serbia and Kosovo also promised not to block each other's efforts to achieve EU membership.

More than half of landlocked Kosovo's people live in poverty. Although it possesses rich mineral resources, agriculture is the main economic activity because of decades of under-development. Kosovar Albanians number about 2 million - about 90% of the population. Some 100,000 Serbs remain following a post-war exodus of non-Albanians. The Serbian minority live in separate areas watched over by Nato peacekeepers.

By: Vishal