By Matik Kueth
The White House budget office has proposed eliminating funding for United Nations peacekeeping missions, citing failures by operations in Mali, Lebanon and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The United States is the UN’s greatest contributor, with China coming in second, contributing 22% of the $3.7 billion core regular UN budget and 27% of the $5.6 billion peacekeeping budget.
The proposed peacekeeping cuts are included in a so-called “Pass back,” the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) response to State Department funding requests for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on October 1st. The overall plan wants to slash the State Department budget by about half.
Congress must approve the new budget, and lawmakers could decide to restore some or all the funding the administration has proposed cutting.
The State Department was expected to respond to the OMB proposal on Tuesday. During U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term, he proposed cutting about a third of the diplomacy and aid budgets. However, Congress, which sets the federal government budget, opposed Trump’s proposal.
“There is no final plan, final budget,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters on Tuesday 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, UNIFIL, and MONUSCO, and the disproportionately high level of assessments,” according to an excerpt from the Passback.
The United Nations 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 $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 A1OF,” read the OMB Passback.
U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on Tuesday declined to comment on “what appears to be a leaked memo that is part of an internal debate within the U.S. government.”
The U.S. owes – for arrears and the current fiscal year – nearly $1.5 billion for the regular U.N. budget and nearly $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.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last month said he is seeking ways to improve efficiency and cut costs as the world body turns 80 this year amid a cash crisis.