US to keep pressure on UN for reforms while paying its dues, says US ambassador
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UN officials say the US owed US$2.19 billion (S$2.76 billion) to the regular UN budget as of the start of February.
PHOTO: REUTERS
GENEVA - The US will keep pressuring the United Nations to reform after withdrawing from dozens of UN agencies
Ambassador Mike Waltz also reiterated that a down payment from Washington to the global organisation would come within weeks.
The US is the biggest contributor to the UN budget, but under the administration of President Donald Trump it has refused to make mandatory payments to the UN’s regular and peacekeeping budgets, and slashed voluntary funding to UN agencies with their own budgets.
UN officials say the US owed US$2.19 billion (S$2.76 billion) to the regular UN budget as of the start of February, more than 95 per cent of the total owed by countries globally.
The US also owes another US$2.4 billion for current and past peacekeeping missions and US$43.6 million for UN tribunals.
Mr Waltz, speaking in Geneva, did not detail how much the UN would receive, but said the US will pay its dues while also pressing the organisation for reforms.
“We’re going to continue sustained pressure on demanding efficiency. We’re going to continue to ask these agencies to do at least the same amount, if not more, with less,” he told reporters.
“We’re going to pay those dues and we’re going to continue to demand reforms. We’re off to a good start,” Mr Waltz said, in relation to the launch of UN reforms that led to a 20 per cent cut in the UN Secretariat’s regular budget, through measures that included slashing thousands of jobs, freezing hiring and limiting staff travel.
Mr Waltz is on a two-day visit to Geneva to meet officials from a number of UN agencies, including the refugee agency, UNHCR, which faces the most severe budget cuts in its history.
In January, Trump announced a US withdrawal from dozens of international organisations and UN entities, saying they operated contrary to US national interests.
The US formally left the WHO
Mr Waltz said the UN needed to take cost-saving measures, including embracing remote work and using AI for translation, as well as relocating staff away from the UN headquarters in two of the world’s most expensive cities - New York and Geneva.
Some UN agencies, like UNICEF, have announced relocations of thousands of their staff to cheaper locations. REUTERS
