US not to contribute more than 25 pc of UN peacekeeping budget

The Trump administration today proposed to eliminate its funding to various climate change projects of the United Nations and said it would not contribute more than 25 per cent of the UN peacekeeping budgets.

"The amount the US would contribute to the UN budget would be reduced and the US would not contribute more than 25 percent for UN peacekeeping costs," the White House said in its budget proposals sent to the Congress this morning.

The budget proposes to reduce funding to the UN and affiliated agencies, including UN peacekeeping and other international organisations, by setting the expectation that these organisations rein in costs and that the funding burden be shared more fairly among members, the White House said as it announced to significantly slash the annual budget of the State Department and USAID.

Trump's 2018 budget requests USD 25.6 billion in base funding for the Department of State and USAID, a USD 10.1 billion or 28 per cent reduction from the 2017 level.

It also requests USD 12.0 billion as Overseas Contingency Operations funding for extraordinary costs, primarily in war areas like Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, for an agency total of USD 37.6 billion.

It eliminates the Global Climate Change Initiative and fulfils Trump s election pledge to cease payments to the UN s climate change programmes by eliminating US funding related to the Green Climate Fund and its two precursor Climate Investment Funds.

Along with, it also reduces funding for multilateral development banks, including the World Bank, by approximately USD 650 million over three years compared to commitments made by the previous administration.

Even with the proposed decreases, the US would retain its current status as a top donor while saving taxpayer dollars, the White House said.

However, it provides sufficient resources on a path to fulfil the USD 1 billion US pledge to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

"This commitment helps support Gavi to vaccinate hundreds of millions of children in low-resource countries and save millions of lives, the White House said.

The annual budget provides USD 3.1 billion to meet the security assistance commitment to Israel, currently at an alltime high. This is to ensure that Israel has the ability to defend itself from threats and maintain its Qualitative Military Edge, the budget papers said.

The White House said the budget shifts some foreign military assistance from grants to loans in order to reduce costs for the US taxpayer, while potentially allowing recipients to purchase more American-made weaponry with US assistance, but on a repayable basis. The White House however did not name the countries.

A day earlier, senior White House officials indicated that Pakistan is one of those countries.

The budget also refocuses economic and development assistance to countries of greatest strategic importance to the US and ensures the effectiveness of US taxpayer investments by rightsizing funding across countries and sectors.

According to the White House, the Budget seeks to reduce or end direct funding for international organisations whose missions do not substantially advance US foreign policy interests, are duplicative, or are not well-managed.

Additional steps will be taken to make the Department and USAID leaner, more efficient, and more effective. These steps to reduce foreign assistance free up funding for critical priorities here at home and put America first, the White House asserted.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)