By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -United Nations peacekeeping missions are under severe financial pressure and U.S. cuts could limit their ability to protect civilians in places like South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, a U.N. peacekeeping spokesperson said on Tuesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump last week unilaterally canceled $4.9 billion in foreign aid authorized by Congress. This includes some $800 million in peacekeeping funding appropriated for 2024 and 2025, according to a Trump administration message to Congress.
The White House budget office has already proposed eliminating funding for U.N. peacekeeping missions in 2026, citing failures by operations in Mali, Lebanon and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Washington is the largest contributor, accounting for 27% of the $5.6-billion U.N. peacekeeping budget. These payments are mandatory.
“Without sufficient resources, we will be doing less with less, with potentially serious implications for peace and security in contexts such as South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where financial constraints could significantly limit our ability to protect civilians,” said a U.N. peacekeeping spokesperson in New York.
“We urge all member states to pay their contributions to peacekeeping in full and on time to sustain the vital work and impact of peacekeeping,” the spokesperson said.
There are currently 11 U.N. peacekeeping operations around the world. The U.N. peacekeeping spokesperson said those missions were already “under severe financial pressure due to a liquidity crisis.”
In the Trump administration’s note to Congress, it said it was rescinding $393 million of $1.2 billion appropriated in fiscal year 2025 for the Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities account and more than $400 million appropriated in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 for the Peacekeeping Operations account.
The CIPA account provides funding for the mandatory U.N. peacekeeping payments.
“U.N. peacekeeping has been fraught with waste and abuse, as evidenced by the ongoing sexual exploitation and abuse in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic,” said the note to Congress, which also alleged that billions of dollars in peacekeeping contracts “were implicated in significant corruption schemes.”
It said the funding cuts “would be a first step to engaging in strong reforms across the U.N.”
It said the PKO account was intended to support peacekeeping and stabilization operations and to counter extremist threats, but “in practice, this account is a slush fund used to support projects well beyond a core security focus.”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is seeking ways to improve efficiency and cut costs as the world body turns 80 this year amid a cash crisis.
(Reporting by Michelle NicholsEditing by Frances Kerry)
