NEW YORK CITY: The UN said on Thursday that its work will continue despite an announcement by the US late on Wednesday that it was withdrawing from 66 international organizations, including 31 UN entities.
“Our work will continue,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at the UN headquarters in New York.
“The secretary-general respects the sovereignty of each of the members of this organization, and he also strongly believes that the challenges that we face today can only be solved through international cooperation. That’s been his view since he started on day one. It continues to be his view.”
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday directed federal agencies to halt participation in, and funding for, 31 UN institutions and 35 other international organizations that, in the view of his administration, operate contrary to national interests, security, economic prosperity or sovereignty of the US.
Notable UN programs affected include the Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Children and Armed Conflict program, which works to protect children in war zones.
In a statement, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his regret over the US decision, and pointed out that contributions to the UN’s regular and peacekeeping budgets remain legal obligations under the UN Charter.
“All United Nations entities will go on with the implementation of their mandates as given by member states,” Guterres said.
“The United Nations has a responsibility to deliver for those who depend on us. We will continue to carry out our mandates with determination.”
Asked whether the US would still be required to pay its assessed contributions despite withdrawing from the UN programs, spokesperson Dujarric said obligations under the UN Charter were clear.
“Contributions to the budget, the regular budget and the peacekeeping budget, are treaty obligations — the operative word being obligations,” he said.
“Member states who signed on have to pay the dues. The UN Charter is not a la carte. The UN itself is not a la carte. It’s an organization of 193 member states and two observer states. It is in the interest of all these member states to defend the principles that they themselves have created.”
Dujarric stressed that the UN was prepared to handle the financial and operational challenges posed by the US withdrawals.
“We’ve been managing under this financial pressure for some time,” he said. “It’s very complicated. Our comptroller doesn’t sleep at all as he tries to keep the lights on in this building.”
The UN will continue its work on climate change, protecting children from violence, and the promotion of gender equality, he added.
The Trump administration framed the withdrawals as a restoration of American sovereignty and the end of spending taxpayer dollars on what it termed ineffective or ideologically driven global programs.
Trump previously withdrew the US from the World Health Organization, the Paris Climate Agreement, and the UN Human Rights Council. The White House said such moves would allow US authorities to refocus resources on domestic priorities, including infrastructure, military readiness, border security and the protection of American businesses abroad.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the organizations affected by the withdrawals as “redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms and general prosperity.”
The administration would continue to review other international organizations for possible withdrawal under Executive Order 14199, he added.
Dujarric, asked whether the secretary-general was surprised by the scale of the US withdrawals, said: “In terms of what’s going on in the world today he’s beyond the term ‘surprise’… He continues, with calm and determination, to (do) his work and defend the Charter and this international institution.”