U.S First Lady, Jill Biden, accompanied by her daughter, Ashley Biden, arrived in Paris early on Monday, July 24, 2023.
Jill Biden is scheduled speak at a ceremony at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) on Tuesday, July 25, 2023 as U.S rejoins the international orgainization, after a five-year absence.
The American flag will be raised during the ceremony.
UNESCO aims to promote global cooperation in education, science and culture. It also names places as World Heritage Sites, declaring them deserving of perpetual preservation.
Before returning to Washington on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, Jill Biden will tour a historic venue in France, Mont-Saint-Michel, a 1,000-year-old Benedictine abbey that was listed as a World Heritage site in 1979. It sits on an island in Normandy, in the north of the country.
Additionally, The U.S First Lady will also visit Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial to pay respects to the more than 4,400 U.S. service members buried there, most of whom died in Normandy and Brittany during World War II.
On Tuesday, she will also meet Brigitte Macron, a former teacher and wife of the French President, Emmanuel Macron, at the Elysée Palace in Paris. The two women have met multiple times in the past two years, notably in December 2017 in Washington, D.C., when Macron was in the U.S on a state visit.
Senior Biden administration officials disclosed that returning to UNESCO fits President Joe Biden’s goal of strengthening global partnerships and recommitting to American leadership at the U.N. and other international organizations to serve as a counter to nations that do not share U.S. values.
The U.S. left UNESCO in 2018, under then-President Donald Trump, a Republican who claimed that the Paris-based organization was biased against Israel.
The administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat, pushed to rejoin over concerns that China was filling the void in leadership created by the U.S. absence.
UNESCO’s governing board voted earlier this month to approve the Biden plan to rejoin, and the U.S. delivered a document certifying that it would accept the invitation to become the 194th member of the group.
Best Choice To Represent U.S In Paris
Other high-ranking members of the Biden administration opined that Jill Biden, who teaches English and writing at a Virginia community college, was best suited to represent the United States in Paris on Tuesday.
Elizabeth Alexander, a spokesperson disclosed, “The first lady, as a lifelong educator and believer in the power of educational opportunity across the world, is honored to help celebrate this important milestone.”
“She looks forward to raising the flag for the United States once again at the UNESCO headquarters, showing our country’s commitment to international cooperation in education, science, and culture.”
Elizabeth Alexander
Previously, the United States withdrew from UNESCO in 1984 during the Reagan administration because it believed the organization to be poorly run, corrupt, and exploited to further Soviet objectives. During the administration of George W. Bush, it re-joined in 2003. Bush’s wife, Laura Bush, a former elementary school teacher and librarian, gave a speech during the event.
Standing in for the President at home and abroad has become a big part of a first lady’s unofficial job description, and Jill Biden travels at least several times a week to promote administration initiatives.
The trip to Paris is her fourth solo international excursion this year.
She visited Namibia and Kenya in February, followed by a trip to London in May for the coronation of King Charles III. In June, she traveled to Jordan to attend the royal wedding of a son of King Abdullah II, followed by stops in Egypt, Morocco and Portugal.
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