Proposed Cuts to U.N. Peacekeeping Funding

By Jonathan Landay and Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – 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, according to internal planning documents seen by Reuters.

Washington is the U.N.’s largest contributor, with China being second, accounting for 22% of the $3.7 billion core regular U.N. budget and 27% of the $5.6 billion peacekeeping budget. These payments are mandatory.

The proposed peacekeeping cuts are included in a so-called “Passback,” which is the response by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to State Department funding requests for the upcoming fiscal year beginning on October 1. The overall plan aims to slash the State Department budget by about half.

The new budget must be approved by Congress, and lawmakers may choose to restore all or some of the funding that 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 attempted to cut around a third of diplomacy and aid budgets. However, Congress, which sets the federal budget, resisted Trump’s proposal.

“There is no final plan, final budget,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters on Tuesday in response to questions 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.

U.S. In Arrears

The United Nations peacekeeping budget funds nine missions: Mali, Lebanon, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Western Sahara, Cyprus, Kosovo, between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and Abyei, an administrative area jointly run by South Sudan and Sudan.

The OMB Passback also proposed creating a $2.1 billion America First Opportunities Fund (A1OF), which is intended 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 the A1OF,” the OMB Passback stated.

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 nearly $1.5 billion for arrears and the current fiscal year for the regular U.N. budget and about $1.2 billion for the peacekeeping budget. A country can be two years in arrears before potentially losing its voting rights in the 193-member General Assembly.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last month expressed his interest in finding ways to improve efficiency and cut costs as the organization celebrates its 80th anniversary this year amid a cash crisis.

(Additional reporting and writing by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Don Durfee and Sonali Paul)