NEW DELHI: The UN peacekeeping chief warned Tuesday that the &quot;indispensable&quot; role played by peacekeepers was facing challenges due to budget cuts, as funding shortfalls translate into troop reductions. &quot;We do not have a choice but to implement these reductions, which are due to the partial non-payment by some states,&quot; Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix told representatives from 32 UN troop-contributing countries. &quot;The international community is divided,&quot; he said in New Delhi. &quot;As a result, the appetite for collective responses to crises is diminishing.&quot; Shortfall in budget&nbsp;UN officials said earlier this month there was 16&ndash;17% shortfall in the peacekeeping budget, largely linked to US aid cuts. As a result, a 25% troop reduction will be spread across nine of the 11 peacekeeping missions. The United States was expected to contribute $1.3 billion of the $5.4 billion budget for 2025-2026 peacekeeping operations. But it has told the United Nations it will only pay around half that amount, or $682 million, which includes $85 million for a new international anti-gang mission in Haiti that was not in the original budget. Slashed foreign aid&nbsp;President Donald Trump has long claimed that international institutions have taken advantage of the United States and has slashed foreign aid. Lacroix emphasized the achievements of peacekeepers over the decades. &quot;The list, as we know, is very long of countries which successfully reached stability with the support of peacekeeping,&quot; he said. &lsquo;Indispensable&rsquo; role&nbsp;&quot;They make the difference between life and death for hundreds of thousands of civilians. They monitor ceasefires. They help build national key capabilities. Their role is indispensable.&quot; Despite the budget cuts, the overall security landscape has &quot;deteriorated&quot;, he added, demanding more of the truncated force. &quot;We&#39;re facing emerging drivers of conflict such as the impact of climate change, the role of international global terrorism and... the negative aspect of digital technology.&quot;

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UN officials said earlier this month there was 16–17% shortfall in the budget, largely linked to US cuts; as a result, 25% troop reduction will be spread across nine of the 11 peacekeeping missions.

'Indispensable' peacekeeping operations threatened by cuts, UN warns

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations will begin slashing its peacekeeping force and operations, forcing thousands of soldiers in the next several months to evacuate far-flung global hotspots as a result of the latest US funding cuts to the world body, a senior UN official said. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting, briefed reporters Wednesday on the 25% reduction in peacekeepers worldwide as the United States, the largest UN donor, makes changes to align with President Donald Trump&#39;s &ldquo;America First&rdquo; vision. Roughly 13,000 to 14,000 military and police personnel out of more than 50,000 peacekeepers deployed across nine global missions will be sent back to their home countries. The UN support office in Somalia will also be affected. The UN plans to reduce the peacekeeping force&rsquo;s budget by approximately 15% for this year. The countries where the UN has peacekeeping missions include Congo, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Lebanon, Cyprus and Kosovo. Legally obliged&nbsp;Each of the UN&rsquo;s 193 member countries is legally obliged to pay its share toward peacekeeping. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has argued that with a budget &ldquo;representing a tiny fraction of global military spending &mdash; around one half of one percent &mdash; UN peacekeeping remains one of the most effective and cost-effective tools to build international peace and security.&rdquo; The decision to institute a major overhaul of the peacekeeping force &mdash; known globally for their distinctive blue berets or helmets &mdash; followed a meeting Tuesday between Guterres and representatives from major donor countries, including Mike Waltz, the new US ambassador to the United Nations. &lsquo;Bloated and redundant&rsquo;Waltz and other Trump administration officials have argued that the UN&#39;s budget and agencies are bloated and redundant, pledging not to make any further contributions until the State Department has assessed the effectiveness of every single UN agency or program.&nbsp; Upon entering his second term in January, Trump ordered a review of the UN and other multilateral institutions, which has already resulted in cutting US ties from the UN cultural agency UNESCO, the World Health Organization and the top UN 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&rsquo; reform effort and reaction to already announced Trump funding cuts. &lsquo;Back to basics&rsquo;In a television interview last week, Waltz said the US is focused on getting &ldquo;the UN back to basics of promoting peace, enforcing peace, preventing wars.&rdquo; He added, &ldquo;We have to cut out all of this other nonsense.&rdquo; UN peacekeeping operations have grown dramatically. At the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, there were 11,000 UN peacekeepers.&nbsp; By 2014, there were 130,000 in 16 peacekeeping operations. Today, around 52,000 men and women serve in 11 conflict areas in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. $680 million commitment&nbsp;The US outlined that it would commit $680 million to nine of those peacekeeping efforts, a significant reduction from the $1 billion payment the US had made this time last year, the UN official said.&nbsp; That funding will be accessible for all active missions, especially those the US has taken special interest in, such as peacekeepers in Lebanon and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Contributions from the US and China make up half of the UN&#39;s peacekeeping budget. Another senior UN official, who also requested anonymity to discuss private talks, said China has indicated it will be paying its full contribution by the end of the year.

Roughly 13,000 to 14,000 military and police personnel out of more than 50,000 peacekeepers deployed across nine global missions will be sent back. The US has outlined that it would commit $680 million to nine missions. 

Articles tagged with "UN peacekeeping"

'Indispensable' peacekeeping operations threatened by cuts, UN warns

UN to cut 25% of its peacekeeping force amid budget strains

'Indispensable' peacekeeping operations threatened by cuts, UN warns