U.S. taxpayers “will not pay more than 25 percent of the [United Nations] peacekeeping budget,” Ambassador Nikki Haley told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday.
“We pledge to work with member states and the organization to ensure we make this adjustment in a fair and sensible manner that protects U.N. peacekeeping,” Haley said during a meeting on the U.N. peacekeeping mission.
President Trump’s administration has sought to reduce U.S. spending on U.N. peacekeeping throughout his first year in office. It’s part of an overall push to reduce spending, since Trump believes allies takes advantage of the United States in unfair agreements.
“One country should not shoulder more than one quarter of the U.N. peacekeeping budget, and we look forward to a more equitable distribution of the budget among member states,” Haley said. “All of us have a role to play, and all of us must step up.”
The United States provides about 28.5 percent of the $6.8 billion provided under the approved U.N. peacekeeping budget. The promised reduction comes as U.N. peacekeepers face the internal problem of reforming an institution stained by sexual abuse scandals, as well as the rising threat of external attacks by terrorists.
Fifty-nine peacekeepers were killed in 2017, including 15 in a single terrorist attack in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in December. Peacekeepers deployed to hotspots across Africa and in Haiti also have been implicated in sexual assault cases.
“Lives and credibility are being lost,” U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said at the Wednesday meeting. “These challenges require strong, collective action. We should focus our efforts in three areas: first, to refocus peacekeeping with realistic expectations; second, to make peacekeeping missions stronger and safer; and, third, to mobilize greater support for political solutions and for well‑structured, well‑equipped, well‑trained forces.”
Haley said such reforms require closer cooperation at the Security Council and with the key regional players for each crisis.
“We send peacekeepers to the frontlines to help those who have been victims of war, who have often experienced unimaginable atrocities,” she said. “If we think about the people peacekeepers are meant to serve and keep those people at the forefront of our minds, none of us should hesitate to do our part to make peacekeeping as effective as it can be.”
