Trump administration proposes scrapping UN peacekeeping funding
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Washington accounts for 27 per cent of the UN’s US$5.6 billion peacekeeping budget.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON - The White House budget office has proposed eliminating funding for UN peacekeeping missions, citing failures by operations in Mali, Lebanon and Democratic Republic of Congo, according to internal planning documents seen by Reuters.
Washington is the UN’s largest contributor – with China second – accounting for 22 per cent of the US$3.7 billion (S$4.9 billion) core regular UN budget and 27 per cent of the US$5.6 billion peacekeeping budget. These payments are mandatory.
The proposed peacekeeping cuts are included in a so-called “Passback
The new budget must be approved by Congress, and lawmakers could decide to restore some or all of the funding the administration has proposed cutting.
The State Department was due to respond to the OMB proposal on April 15. During US President Donald Trump’s first term, he proposed cutting about a third of diplomacy and aid budgets. But Congress, which sets the federal government budget, pushed back on his proposal.
“There is no final plan, final budget,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters on April 15 when asked about the OMB proposals.
The OMB has proposed ending Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities (Cipa).
“For example, Passback provides no funding for Cipa, ending contributions for international peacekeeping due to the recent failures in peacekeeping, such as with Minusma, Uniful and Monusco, and the disproportionately high level of assessments,” according to an excerpt from the Passback.
US in arrears
The UN peacekeeping budget funds nine missions in Mali, Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Western Sahara, Cyprus, Kosovo, between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Abyei, an administrative area that is jointly run by South Sudan and Sudan.
The OMB Passback also proposed the creation of a US$2.1 billion America First Opportunities Fund (A1OF), which it said would be used to cover a limited set of foreign economic and development assistance priorities.
“Should the administration seek to pay any assessments for the United Nations Regular Budget or peacekeeping assessments, we would look to provide that funding from the A1OF,” read the OMB Passback.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on April 15 declined to comment on “what appears to be a leaked memo that is part of an internal debate within the US government”.
The US owes – for arrears and the current fiscal year – nearly US$1.5 billion for the regular UN budget and nearly US$1.2 billion for the peacekeeping budget. A country can be up to two years in arrears before facing the possible repercussion of losing its vote in the 193-member General Assembly.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in March said he is seeking ways to improve efficiency and cut costs, as the world body turns 80 in 2025 amid a cash crisis. REUTERS
