UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations will cut a quarter of peacekeepers in 11 operations around the world in the coming months due to a lack of money, senior UN officials said on Wednesday, and as future funding from the United States remains uncertain.
“Overall, we will have to repatriate... around 25 percent of our total peacekeeping troops and police, as well as their equipment, and a large number of civilian staff in missions will also be affected,” said a senior UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
That would amount to between 13,000 and 14,000 troops and police, the official said.
Washington is the UN’s largest peacekeeping contributor, accounting for more than 26 percent of funding, followed by China which pays nearly 24 percent. These payments are not voluntary.
The US was already $1.5 billion in arrears before the new financial year began on July 1, said a second UN official. Washington now also owes an additional $1.3 billion, taking its total outstanding bill to more than $2.8 billion.
The US has told the UN it will make a payment shortly of $680 million, the first UN official said. The US mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
US President Donald Trump in August unilaterally canceled some $800 million in peacekeeping funding appropriated for 2024 and 2025, according to a Trump administration message to Congress.
Trump has long claimed that international institutions have taken advantage of the United States and has overseen massive cuts to US foreign aid since his return to the White House in January.
The White House budget office has also proposed eliminating funding for UN peacekeeping missions in 2026, citing failures of operations in Mali, Lebanon and Democratic Republic of Congo.
The UN has peacekeeping operations in the Middle East, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lebanon, Kosovo, Cyprus, Central African Republic, Western Sahara, the Golan Heights demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria, Abyei — an administrative area jointly run by South Sudan and Sudan — and on a ceasefire line dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is also more broadly seeking ways to improve efficiency and cut costs as the world body turns 80 this year amid a cash crisis.
The announcement “potentially means a significant reduction in protection for things like humanitarian convoys and the civilians who rely on aid,” Louis Charbonneau of Human Rights Watch told AFP.
“We hope the UN will prioritize lifesaving humanitarian and human rights activities,” he added.
Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group said the cuts’ impact on the ground “will vary case by case.”
“In somewhere like South Sudan, where peacekeepers offer many civilians a little protection and there was nearly a new war this year, cutting back peacekeepers sends a very bad signal.”
