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Trump administration has begun the US payment to UN through the process of sending $725 million to the United Nations, according to a letter from the State Department to Congress. The payment comes at a time when the U.N. is struggling financially because many member states have not paid their contributions. Experts welcomed the move, saying it will help cover part of the billions of dollars the U.S. still owes to the organization.
The money is expected to be transferred before President Donald Trump speaks at the U.N. General Assembly in New York next month. Washington has not explained why the payment is being made. In the past, the Trump administration cut funding to several U.N. agencies and criticized the organization’s performance.
US payment to UN
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned that the organization faces financial collapse because of unpaid contributions. The U.N. has already made budget cuts and the $725 million payment would cover less than 20 percent of the more than $4 billion U.N. says the U.S. owes. But Washington disputes that figure, saying it has already made some payments.
Through the US payment to UN, Experts says that the money could help the U.N. pay salaries for a while, but more payments will be needed. If the U.S. does not pay further dues, it could lose its voting rights in January under U.N. rules. A large payment now could prevent immediate spending cuts, but without more funds, the U.N. may struggle to keep operations running later this year.
United States remains the largest contributor to the U.N. budget, but under Trump it has refused to make mandatory payments to the regular and peacekeeping budgets. As of August, 129 member states had paid their contributions in full, but China, the second-largest contributor, had not.
The State Department confirmed in its letter that $725 million was being set aside for the U.N.’s regular budget. This will provide some relief but still leaves billions unpaid.
In May, the U.N. said that Washington owed more than $4 billion, including money for the regular budget, peacekeeping missions and tribunals. That U.S. has also withheld funds from the Human Rights Council and the Palestinian Refugee Agency.
Meanwhile, the U.N. is carrying out reforms known as UN80 to cut costs. It has reduced its budget by over 9 percent and moved thousands of jobs from expensive cities like New York and Geneva to cheaper locations.
Nevertheless, the planned $725 million US payment to United Nations will help U.N. temporarily, but more payments are still needed to ease its financial crisis.
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