UN to slash global peacekeeping force by 25 per cent after US funding cuts
The cuts follow Tuesday's talks between UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and major donor countries, including the new US ambassador to the organisation, Mike Waltz.
The United Nations will cut its global peacekeeping force by a quarter in the coming months, sending home about 13,000 to 14,000 troops and police officers as the organisation adjusts to sharp US funding reductions, a senior UN official said on Wednesday.
The move will also reduce the peacekeeping budget by about 15 per cent this year and affect several missions, including the UN support office in Somalia.
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"Overall, we will have to repatriate around 25 per cent 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," the official said, on condition of anonymity, according to Reuters.
The cuts follow Tuesday's talks between UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and major donor countries, including the new US ambassador to the organisation, Mike Waltz.
The US has criticised the UN for being too large and inefficient, saying many of its programmes overlap or waste resources. Washington has held off on new funding until the State Department reviews the performance of every UN agency.
Early in his second term, President Donald Trump ordered a broad review of international organisations, which has already led the US to withdraw from UNESCO, the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the UN Human Rights Council.
On Tuesday, Washington, the biggest funder of UN peacekeeping, said it will cut its contribution to $680 million (Sh87.8 billion) this year from $1 billion (Sh129 billion) last year. The US will now focus its support on key missions with significant national interests, including those in Lebanon and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Peacekeeping operations in Congo, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Cyprus and Kosovo will also be affected.
The UN now has just over 50,000 peacekeepers serving in 11 missions across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, a sharp drop from a high of 130,000 in 2014.
Guterres has defended the body's peacekeeping efforts as an essential and affordable tool for maintaining global peace, noting that its total cost represents only half of one per cent of global military spending.
All 193 UN member states help fund peacekeeping, with the US and China covering about half of the total. A second senior official likewise revealed that China plans to pay its full share by the end of the year.
As it stands, more than 60 UN offices and agencies are also expected to reduce staff by 20 per cent in response to US funding cuts.
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