I will make no
bones. There are serious issues with the UN. Some sections, like the
International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, and the Human
Rights Council, are biased and ineffective. There is a strong and unnecessary
bias against Israel. I believe Russia should be booted from the UN Security
Council for its criminal and imperialist behavior. The United Nations Relief
and Works Agency (UNRWA), the refugee agency in Gaza, has been proven to be
full of Hamas operatives – basically a UN agency amply populated with
terrorists, which is entirely unacceptable.
One of the big critiques of USAID before it was unceremoniously dismantled was that it was inefficient, paid NGOs, some with extreme biases, and with “wokeness.” While those critiques are valid, dismantling the whole program was a terrible move. It was overkill. It dismantled important U.S. soft power around the world. As I have written about elsewhere, the U.S. was not the biggest contributor per capita, or per GNI, to international aid. It was individual countries in Europe. China does not give much in comparison to both.
UN chief António Guterres warned
about a week ago that the UN is in dire straits because of members not paying
their dues, in particular the U.S. Specifically, he said it is at risk of
"imminent financial collapse."
“It comes after the UN's largest contributor, the US,
refused to contribute to its regular and peacekeeping budgets, and withdrew
from several agencies it called a "waste of taxpayer dollars".
He also noted that 77% of 2025’s
dues remain unpaid.
He wrote: "The bottom line is clear: either all member
states honour their obligations to pay in full and on time – or member states
must fundamentally overhaul our financial rules to prevent an imminent
financial collapse."
In January, the U.S. withdrew from
31 UN agencies in order to "end American taxpayer funding and
involvement in entities that advance globalist agendas over US priorities".
Apparently, America First means punishing international organizations and
anti-globalism. The U.S. warned the UN must “adapt or die.”
The situation is that the U.S.,
now led by a cadre of billionaires (13 billionaires in the cabinet alone and
more as advisors), is pulling funding from the UN, the world’s main
international organization. There may be some possible alternatives, like
Trump’s Board of Peace, which plans to be funded by wealthy heads of state and
other wealthy individuals. Now, I can understand why they do not want the UN to
lead things in Gaza after the UNRWA catastrophe, but they will likely be involved
anyway.
In 2022, the U.S. funded UN humanitarian programs with $17 billion. In late December 2025, the U.S. pledged just $2 billion for humanitarian aid, more than eight times less. Below is some unpaid funding data as of April 30, 2025.
Program cuts and layoffs have
already begun at the UN in response. An opinion article in the New York Post by
Paul du Quenoy basically says good riddance, calling the UN “morally and
financially bankrupt.”
Things now on the table include
closing its iconic Manhattan headquarters and cancelling its annual General
Assembly meeting in September. He also writes, however, that it is the current
U.S. administration that is responsible for the shortfall. It is basically
another of the many, many “shakedowns” the Trump administration has engaged in.
“A towering 95% of its projected $2.2 billion shortfall
is money the UN says the United States owes in unpaid dues from 2025 and
as-yet-unpaid dues for 2026, per a senior UN official who briefed the press on
the would-be world government’s rapidly impending insolvency.”
As I noted before, I am not a fan
of Guterres. While his humanitarian credentials are very good and worthy of
praise, his political bent as an avowed socialist is not in line with good
governance.
The UN does have reform plans in
progress. Guterres announced in March 2025 the UN80 Initiative, which is
designed to make the UN more “agile, integrated, and better equipped to
respond to contemporary global challenges.” The initiative includes budget
cuts and consolidations. The plan was to trim its budget by 20% in 2026.
According to an article in the Council on Foreign Relations:
“The UN80 Task Force is also exploring moving the home
bases of various agencies out of hubs, including New York and Geneva, to be
closer to their service areas and cut costs.”
Declining trust, financial
pressures, and bureaucracy are pushing the world body
to reform.
There are real concerns for real
people about funding cuts as well:
“Unless there’s a bit of a turnaround on the budget
front… there is going to be human suffering,” Gowan said. “There will be fewer
people being fed. There will be fewer people being vaccinated or sheltered by
the United Nations if the cuts are not, at least in part, reversed.”
Is this what we want? No, I say. It’s one thing to punish the UN and completely another to punish human beings by abandoning them when they are in need. One good thing, perhaps, is that Guterres’ term is set to end in December 2026, and perhaps a reset with a more pragmatic leader can help reduce waste, bloat, and ineffectiveness. While the Trump people exert maximum leverage against the UN, there is little hope of ‘business as usual’ and very real concerns of a downsizing that also includes a real human toll. I do hope the U.S. will reconsider funding more vital humanitarian programs. I also hope the UN will announce some more substantial reforms.
References:
Let
the morally and financially bankrupt UN perish. Opinion by Paul du Quenoy. New
York Post. February 7, 2026. Let
the morally and financially bankrupt UN perish
UN
risks 'imminent financial collapse', secretary general warns. Maia Davies. BBC.
January 30, 2026. UN
risks 'imminent financial collapse', secretary general warns
The
UN80 Initiative: What to Know About the United Nations’ Reform Plan. Council on
Foreign Relations. September 15, 2025. The
UN80 Initiative: What to Know About the United Nations’ Reform Plan | Council
on Foreign Relations
No comments:
Post a Comment