UN peacekeepers face budget cuts

United Nations – A deal on cutting nearly $600 million (about R7.8 billion) from the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping budget was reached on Wednesday following weeks of negotiations over US demands for sharp cost reductions, UN diplomats said.

Under the deal reached by a General Assembly budget committee, the UN will spend $7.3 billion on peacekeeping in the coming year, down from $7.87 billion – roughly a 7% cut – according to diplomats familiar with the negotiations.

The United States, the biggest financial contributor to peacekeeping, had sought a nearly $1 billion cut to the bill and the European Union (AU) had also pushed for savings to bring costs down to $7.3 billion.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley claimed victory in a statement, saying “just five months into our time here, we’ve already been able to cut over half-a-billion dollars from the UN peacekeeping budget and we’re only getting started”.

Hardest hit by the cuts will be the UN missions in Sudan’s troubled region of Darfur and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the two costliest operations with budgets that run over $1 billion.

A Security Council diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity said, however, there will be “cuts across the board” in the 13 peacekeeping missions as a result of US pressure.

Washington pays 28.5% of the peacekeeping budget and 22% of the UN’s core budget of $5.4 billion.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre said the deal will allow UN missions to “fully implement their mandate while being more efficient”.

“The savings proposed in this budget have been carefully targeted,” said Delattre.

The deal falls short of the request from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who had asked for $7.97 billion for the annual budget which runs from July 1 to June 30 of next year. It also is less than what African countries had proposed: they wanted $7.7 billion for the UN missions.

The deal is expected to be approved by the UN General Assembly today.

Britain on Wednesday circulated a draft resolution that provides for a two-stage drawdown over the next 12 months, in line with the recommendations of a joint AU-UN report released last month.

The measure would cut force levels of the joint AU-UN mission in Darfur, known as Unamid, to reach 8 735 troops and 2 500 police by June 2018, a 44% cut in military personnel and nearly 30% in police.

It could be reviewed if the Sudanese government fails to ensure protection in those areas from where the peacekeepers will withdraw.

Guterres will report to the council after six months on whether “conditions remain conducive to further reductions”. –

Savings proposed have been carefully targeted