Ban Ki-moon: Palestinian membership of UN agencies is 'not beneficial'

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has said Palestinian efforts to join other United Nations agencies beyond its cultural arm are "not beneficial for Palestine and not beneficial for anybody".

Millions of people could be affected if UN agencies see their funding cut as a result of the Palestinian bids, he said in an interview on Thursday at the sidelines of the G20 summit in Cannes.

The US and Canada have cut off funding for Unesco since the Paris-based UN cultural agency approved a Palestinian membership bid – stripping it of about one-quarter of its total funding.

Ban said the Palestinian Authority's foreign minister had indicated that it would apply for membership of the 16 other UN agencies.