Listen to article
|
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order formalizing Washington’s exit from several United Nations institutions, including the Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The order also mandates a comprehensive reassessment of US contributions to the global body, signaling a shift in America’s approach to multilateral engagement.
The executive order outlines Washington’s immediate exit from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). Furthermore, it directs a reassessment of US participation in UNESCO, as part of a wider effort to reevaluate America’s financial and political commitments to global bodies.
The UN Human Rights Council, which comprises 47 member nations elected for three-year terms by the General Assembly, saw the United States conclude its latest term on December 31. While the US currently holds observer status, the executive order signed on Tuesday is expected to sever any remaining participation in the council’s activities, including its reviews of global human rights conditions and investigations into specific allegations of abuse.
“More generally, the executive order calls for review of American involvement and funding in the UN in light of the wild disparities and levels of funding among different countries,” said Scharf.
Read also: Trump Suspends Tariffs For Canada, Mexico, Excludes China
Trump highlighted the “tremendous potential” of the UN but said it is “not being well run.”
“It should be funded by everybody, but we’re disproportionate, as we always seem to be,” he said.
Trump has been a staunch critic of the US’s financial commitments to multilateral organizations, urging other nations, especially NATO members, to contribute more. UNRWA, the central aid agency for Palestinians, plays an indispensable role for the 1.9 million people displaced by the violence in Gaza, many of whom rely on its aid to survive. Under Trump, the US has supported Israel’s push to eliminate the agency, citing accusations that UNRWA has been involved in promoting hate propaganda.
Following Israel’s accusation that 12 UNRWA employees were linked to the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, the Biden administration withdrew US funding from the agency in January 2024. The investigations that followed identified some concerns related to the agency’s neutrality but found no proof of Israel’s primary allegations. In turn, most other donor nations that had suspended their aid resumed their contributions to UNRWA.
Earlier in his latest term, Trump also withdrew from the Paris climate accord and began withdrawing from the World Health Organization, of which it is the largest donor. Each of the withdrawals has been a repeat of the Republican billionaire’s first term in office, which ended in 2021.