United Nations — United Nations (AFP) – The United Nations will begin reducing its commitments Force and peacekeeping operationsforcing thousands of soldiers in the next few months to evacuate remote global hotspots as a result of the latest developments. Reducing US funding A senior UN official said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting, briefed reporters on Wednesday on a 25% reduction in peacekeeping forces worldwide as the United States, the United Nations’ largest donor, makes changes to align with its goals. President Donald Trump’s “America First” vision..
Nearly 13,000 to 14,000 military and police personnel out of more than 50,000 peacekeepers deployed in nine global missions will be returned to their home countries. The United Nations support office in Somalia will also be affected. The United Nations plans to reduce the peacekeeping force’s budget by about 15% this year.
Countries with UN peacekeeping missions include Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Lebanon, Cyprus and Kosovo.
Each of the 193 UN member states is legally obligated to pay its share in peacekeeping operations. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that with a budget that “represents a small fraction of global military spending – about half of one percent – UN peacekeeping operations remain one of the most effective and cost-effective tools for building international peace and security.”
The decision to overhaul the peacekeeping force – known globally for its distinctive blue berets or helmets – followed a meeting on Tuesday between Guterres and representatives of major donor countries, including Mike Waltz, the UN Secretary-General. New US Ambassador to the United Nations.
Waltz and other Trump administration officials have argued that the UN budget and its agencies are bloated and redundant, and have pledged to make no further contributions until the State Department evaluates the effectiveness of each UN agency or program. Upon entering his second term in January, Trump ordered Review of the United Nations and other multilateral institutionsThis actually led to the severing of the United States’ relations with the United Nations’ UNESCO Global Health Organization And the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, while Reevaluate their funding for others.
At the United Nations, more than 60 offices, agencies and processes face 20% job cuts, part of Guterres’ reform efforts and response to the crisis. Trump’s funding cuts have already been announced.
In a television interview last week, Waltz said the United States was focused on returning “the United Nations to the basics of promoting peace, enforcing peace, and preventing wars.”
“We have to cut out all this other nonsense,” he added.
UN peacekeeping operations have grown significantly. At the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, there were 11,000 UN peacekeepers. By 2014, there were 130,000 soldiers in 16 peacekeeping operations. Today, approximately 52,000 men and women serve in 11 conflict zones in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
The United States has made clear it will commit $680 million to nine peacekeeping efforts, a significant reduction from the $1 billion the United States paid at this time last year, the UN official said. This funding will be available for all active missions, especially those in which the United States has taken a special interest, e.g Peacekeeping forces in Lebanon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Contributions from the United States and China make up half of the United Nations peacekeeping budget. Another senior UN official, who also requested anonymity to discuss the private talks, said China has indicated it will pay its full contribution by the end of the year.