The United Nations will be forced to reduce its peacekeeping forces worldwide by around 25% due to a lack of funding, largely linked to U.S. aid cuts, a senior U.N. official has said.
About 13,000 to 14,000 military and police personnel, as well as their equipment, will have to be repatriated, the official said Wednesday on condition of anonymity, with "a large number of civilian staff in missions" also to be affected.
The United States was expected to contribute $1.3 billion of the total $5.4 billion budget for 2025-2026 peacekeeping operations.
But it has now informed the U.N. that it will only pay around half the amount, or $682 million — which includes $85 million earmarked for a new international anti-gang mission in Haiti that was not in the original budget.
China is expected to contribute $1.2 billion to the peacekeeping budget, which had $2 billion in unpaid contributions as of July.
Of its total budget, the U.N. now expects a shortfall of 16% to 17% in the current peacekeeping budget.
President Donald Trump has long claimed that international institutions have taken advantage of the United States and has overseen massive cuts to U.S. foreign aid since his return to the White House in January.
"We know that there will be consequences in terms of monitoring ceasefires, protection of civilians, working with the humanitarians, or other peacekeeping activities," the official said.
The 25% reduction in troops will be spread across nine of the 11 peacekeeping missions, which had already developed contingency plans for potential budget cuts, the official said.
The U.N. has peacekeepers deployed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, southern Lebanon, Central African Republic, South Sudan, and Western Sahara, among other places.
The announcement "potentially means a significant reduction in protection for things like humanitarian convoys and the civilians who rely on aid," Louis Charbonneau of Human Rights Watch said.
"We hope the U.N. will prioritize lifesaving humanitarian and human rights activities," he added.
Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group said the cuts' impact on the ground "will vary case by case."
"In somewhere like South Sudan, where peacekeepers offer many civilians a little protection and there was nearly a new war this year, cutting back peacekeepers sends a very bad signal."
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