UN to cut 25% of global peacekeepers: 14,000 soldiers to return home | Here's why
The United Nations will cut around 25% of its global peacekeeping workforce, affecting 13,000 to 14,000 military and police personnel across nine global missions, a senior official has said.
The United Nations will begin reducing its peacekeeping force and operations over the next several months as a result of funding cuts by the United States, a senior UN official said on Wednesday. The move is expected to impact thousands of soldiers and police personnel deployed in conflict zones across the world.
The unnamed official, quoted by The Associated Press, said the move has come as a result of its largest donor, the US, implementing changes in line with President Donald Trump's America-first push.
25% workforce to be affected
The UN plans to lay off around 25% of its global peacekeeping workforce. This means around 13,000 to 14,000 military and police personnel out of more than 50,000 currently deployed across nine global missions will be asked to go home.
The UN office in Somalia will also face cuts, as the world body plans to slash about 15% of its $5.4 billion budget for next year.
The senior official warned that the budget cut will affect all areas of UN operations, including both civilian and uniformed personnel. While it is unclear when and how the civilian personnel will be affected, the official said the impact will be significant.
UN's peacekeeping missions currently operate in Congo, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Lebanon, Cyprus and Kosovo.
Why is the US cutting UN budget?
Officials from the Donald Trump administration in recent weeks have argued that the budget and agencies of the UN are bloated and redundant. They said they will not be making any further voluntary or involuntary contributions until the US State Department has evaluated the efficiency of each UN agency and programme.
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said in a TV interview last week that the US is focused on getting “the UN back to basics of promoting peace, enforcing peace, preventing wars.”
He added, “We have to cut out all of this other nonsense.”
The decision to institute a major overhaul of the peacekeeping force, the distinctive blue berets or helmet-wearing personnel, comes after a meeting on Tuesday between UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and representatives from major donor countries, including Mike Waltz, the new US ambassador to the United Nations.
UN peacekeeping operations have grown dramatically. At the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, there were 11,000 UN peacekeepers. By 2014, there were 1,30,000 in 16 far-flung peacekeeping operations. Today, around 52,000 men and women serve in 11 conflict areas in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Contributions from the US and China make up half of the UN's peacekeeping budget.