By Oritro Karim<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) <\/strong>\u2013 President Donald Trump\u2019s executive order to stop U.S. support for 66 international organizations, including 31 United Nations (UN) groups, has faced strong opposition from these organizations, the global community, humanitarian experts, and climate advocates, who are concerned about the negative effects on global cooperation, sustainable development, and international peace and security.\uff5cJAPANESE<\/a>\uff5cKOREAN<\/a>\uff5c<\/p>\n\n\n\n This executive order<\/a> follows earlier U.S. withdrawals from the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The U.S. has recently reduced its funding for foreign aid organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The majority of the affected bodies in this executive order are organizations that center around issues in climate change, labor, peacekeeping, migration, and civic space conditions. In a statement<\/a> from the U.S. Department of State, it is confirmed that Trump\u2019s review of these organizations found them to be \u201cwasteful, ineffective, and harmful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The executive order primarily affects organizations that address climate change, labor rights, peacekeeping, migration, and civic space conditions. In a statement, the U.S. Department of State described the organizations, calling them vehicles for \u201cprogressive ideologies\u201d funded by American taxpayers and misaligned with U.S. national interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Trump Administration has found these institutions to be redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation\u2019s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity,\u201d said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. \u201cPresident Trump is clear: It is no longer acceptable to be sending these institutions the blood, sweat, and treasure of the American people, with little to nothing to show for it. The days of billions of dollars in taxpayer money flowing to foreign interests at the expense of our people are over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The order instructs all executive departments and agencies to begin implementing the withdrawals immediately. For the affected UN agencies, this entails ending U.S. participation and halting funding. Rubio also confirmed that the review of additional international organizations is still underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Humanitarian experts and spokespersons for many of the affected entities have voiced alarm and condemnation with President Trump\u2019s order, warning of severe consequences for climate action, human rights, peacebuilding efforts, multilateral governance, and global crisis-response systems\u2014particularly at a time of mounting international instability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cToday, we are witnessing a complete shift from global cooperation towards transactional relations,\u201d said Yamide Dagnet, Senior International Vice President at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is becoming less about shared principles, rule of law, and solidarity, thereby risking more global instability. By choosing to run away from addressing some of the biggest environmental, economic, health, and security threats on the planet, the United States of America stands to lose a lot. With diminishing credibility and competitiveness in the industries of the future, the United States will be missing out on job creation and innovation, ceding scientific and technological leadership to other countries,\u201d Dagnet said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She called on world leaders to commit to multilateralism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe world is bigger than the United States\u2014and so are the solutions to our problems, which require global cooperation more than ever, including among states, provinces, and cities globally. This is the moment when world leaders need to resolutely commit to multilateral collaboration if we\u2019re going to overcome these global threats to ensure a safe and sustainable future for all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many have also criticized the U.S.\u2019s \u00e0 la carte<\/em> approach to meeting its international obligations, only supporting the operations and agencies that align with President Trump\u2019s priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think what we\u2019re seeing is the crystallization of the U.S. approach to multilateralism, which is \u2018my way or the highway,\u2019\u201d said Daniel Forti, the head of UN affairs at the International Crisis Group. \u201cIt\u2019s a very clear vision of wanting international cooperation on Washington\u2019s own terms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES<\/a>) said it regretted \u201cthe deeply disappointing news of the United States\u2019 intention to withdraw its participation in IPBES, along with more than 60 other international organizations and bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. David Obura, Chair of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), said the U.S. was a founding member and \u201cscientists, policymakers and stakeholders\u2014including Indigenous Peoples and local communities\u2014from the United States have been among the most engaged contributors to the work of IPBES since its establishment in 2012, making valuable contributions to objective science-based assessments of the state of the planet for people and nature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Apart from their contributions to IPBES, \u201cdecision-makers in the United States\u2014at all levels and in all spheres of society\u2014have also been among the most prolific users of the work produced by IPBES to help better inform policy, regulations, investments and future research.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obura thanked the U.S. for their contribution but noted that the withdrawal would have a massive impact on IPBES and the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUnfortunately, we cannot withdraw from the fact that more than 1 million species of plants and animals face extinction<\/a>. Nor can we change the fact that the global economy is losing as much as USD 25 trillion per year in environmental impacts, <\/a>or restore the missed opportunities of not acting now to generate more than USD 10 trillion in business opportunity value and 395 million jobs<\/a> by 2030.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Historically, the U.S. has been the largest financial contributor to the UN, providing approximately 22 percent of the organization\u2019s regular budget and roughly 28 percent of all peacekeeping funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The withdrawal of U.S. support from 31 UN bodies is expected to trigger substantial budget shortfalls, cutbacks in humanitarian staffing, and the loss of critical technical expertise supplied by U.S. personnel. These setbacks are likely to hinder progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reduce food assistance and medical services for people in protracted crises, and embolden authoritarian governments to resist humanitarian oversight and intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe US decision to disengage from dozens of United Nations programs and agencies, along with other international bodies, is just President Trump\u2019s latest assault on human rights protections and the global rule of law,\u201d said Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhether withdrawing from the Human Rights Council or defunding the UN Population Fund, which helps millions of women and girls around the world, this administration has been trying to destroy the very same human rights institutions that the US helped build over the last 80 years. UN member countries should resist the US campaign to demolish tools they use to uphold human rights and ensure that vital UN programs have the funding and political support they need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At a press briefing at the UN Headquarters, St\u00e9phane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, informed reporters of the UN\u2019s reaction to the U.S. withdrawal, emphasizing that the UN remains committed to assisting people in need regardless of U.S. participation<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs we have consistently underscored, assessed contributions to the United Nations regular budget and peacekeeping budget, as approved by the General Assembly, are a legal obligation under the UN Charter for all Member States, including the United States,\u201d said Dujarric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll United Nations entities will go on with the implementation of their mandates as given by Member States. The United Nations has a responsibility to deliver for those who depend on us. We will continue to carry out our mandates with determination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n