UN to Cut Global Peacekeeping Forces by 25% Due to Funding Shortfall
Senior U.N. officials confirmed Wednesday that the United Nations will reduce peacekeeper deployments by about 25% across nine missions worldwide in the coming months, citing severe financial constraints and uncertainty over future U.S. funding.
“One by one we will have to repatriate around 25% of our total peacekeeping troops and police, along with their equipment, and many civilian staff in missions will also be affected,” said a senior U.N. official speaking on condition of anonymity.
This reduction would amount to 13,000 to 14,000 troops and police being withdrawn, according to the source. The United States remains the largest contributor to U.N. peacekeeping, covering more than 26% of the costs, followed by China at nearly 24%. These contributions are mandatory, not voluntary.
Before the fiscal year began on July 1, the U.S. was already $1.5 billion behind in payments. A second U.N. official said Washington now owes an additional $1.3 billion, bringing its total arrears to over $2.8 billion. The U.S. has informed the U.N. that it will soon pay $680 million, according to the first official. The U.S. mission to the U.N. had no immediate response.
In August, President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew about $800 million in peacekeeping funding allocated for 2024 and 2025, according to a notice sent to Congress. The White House budget office has also proposed ending U.S. funding for U.N. peacekeeping in 2026, pointing to shortcomings in missions in Mali, Lebanon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The reductions will impact operations in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lebanon, Kosovo, Cyprus, the Central African Republic, Western Sahara, the Golan Heights (Israel–Syria), and Abyei (the shared administrative region of South Sudan and Sudan).
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is also seeking broader efficiencies and cost reductions as the U.N. marks its 80th year amid a cash crisis.
Source: Reuters
