“The UK withdrawal from Unesco would be historical and cultural vandalism. The international development secretary Penny Mordaunt is shamefully following the US down a road to isolationism” [The Guardian]

 About the US withdrawal, Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova said: “At the time when conflicts continue to tear apart societies across the world, it is deeply regrettable for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations agency promoting education for peace and protecting culture under attack. This is a loss to the United Nations family. This is a loss for multilateralism.” [ full statement. ]

Why the US withdrawal from UNESCO is a step backwards for global cultural cooperation – [The Conversation]

This UK action is of great significance as “it was British politicians such as Rab Butler who helped develop the concept of Unesco, a conference in London in 1945 that framed its constitution, a British scientist who became its first director-general, and a Labour prime minister – Clement Attlee – who came up with the words that summed up its mission. “Since wars begin in the minds of men,” he wrote in the preamble to the new agency’s constitution, “it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.” That was the thinking of a generation shattered by the second world war, desperate to create the global institutions that would not just prevent any repeat but for ever stop the nationalist forces of hatred, division and prejudice from rising again.” [ Emily Thornberry – The Guardian]
It should be noted, The Acropolis and its masterpieces including the Parthenon, the Propylaea, the Erechtheum, the Temple of Athena Nike, etc. is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.