World Notes Britain

A message pinned to the bulletin board at the Paris headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization by disgruntled staffers captured the general mood: "Enough is enough." One reason for the gloom: Britain last week affirmed that it will withdraw at year's end from the 160-member organization. Charging that UNESCO has become "harmfully politicized," Timothy Raison, Minister for Overseas Development, declared before the House of Commons: "We are determined that our support for the United Nations should be seen as support for effective and efficient organizations. Unfortunately, UNESCO is not such a body."

At the heart of the controversy is UNESCO's Senegalese Director-General, Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow, who took over in 1974. Critics contend that under M'Bow, UNESCO has become anti-Western, citing, among other things, M'Bow's efforts to back groups like the Palestine Liberation Organization and to restrict media coverage of the Third World by creating devices like the so-called new world information order. The U.S. withdrew from UNESCO last year, and other countries have threatened to reconsider membership if changes are not made.