UN to cut 25% of its global peacekeeping force in response to US funding strains
THE UNITED NATIONS — UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations will begin scaling back its forces and peacekeeping operations, forcing thousands of troops over the coming months to evacuate from global hotspots following the latest cuts in U.S. funding for the world body, a senior U.N. official said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting, briefed reporters Wednesday on the 25% reduction in the number of peacekeepers worldwide as the United States, the U.N.’s largest donor, makes changes to align with President Donald Trump’s “America First” vision.
About 13,000 to 14,000 military and police personnel out of more than 50,000 peacekeeping troops deployed in nine global missions will be returned to their home countries. The UN support office in Somalia will also be affected. The UN plans to cut the peacekeeping force’s budget by around 15% for this year.
Countries in which the UN has peacekeeping missions include Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Lebanon, Cyprus and Kosovo.
Each of the 193 member countries of the UN is legally required to pay its share in maintaining peace. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres argued that with a budget “representing a tiny fraction of global military spending – around half a percent – UN peacekeeping remains one of the most effective and cost-effective tools for building international peace and security.”
The decision to institute a major overhaul of the peacekeeping force – known around the world for its distinctive berets or blue helmets – follows a meeting on Tuesday between Guterres and representatives of major donor countries, including Mike Waltz, the new US ambassador to the United Nations.
Waltz and other Trump administration officials have argued that the U.N. budget and agencies are bloated and redundant, pledging to make no more contributions until the State Department evaluates the effectiveness of each U.N. agency or program. At the start of his second term in January, Trump ordered a review of the U.N. and other multilateral institutions, which has already resulted in the severing of U.S. ties with the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO, the World Health Organization and the U.N.’s top human rights body, while reassessing its funding for others.
At the UN, more than 60 offices, agencies and operations are facing 20% job cuts, part of Guterres’ reform efforts and in response to funding cuts already announced by Trump.
In a television interview last week, Waltz said the United States was working to bring “the U.N. back to basics: promoting peace, enforcing peace and preventing war.”
He added: “We have to eliminate all this other nonsense. »
UN peacekeeping operations have grown dramatically. At the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, the UN had 11,000 peacekeepers. In 2014, there were 130,000 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 indicated it will spend $680 million on nine of these peacekeeping efforts, a significant reduction from the $1 billion the United States contributed during the same period last year, the U.N. official said. This funding will be available to all active missions, particularly those in which the United States has a particular interest, such as the peacekeeping missions in Lebanon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Contributions from the United States and China make up half of the UN peacekeeping budget. Another senior U.N. official, who also requested anonymity to discuss private discussions, said China had indicated it would pay its contribution in full by the end of the year.
