Trump Stops US Work With UN Human Rights Council
In a big move, US President Donald Trump has said America will no longer work with some United Nations (UN) groups. This includes the Human Rights Council (UNHRC). He also wants to check how much money the US gives to the UN.
The White House also stopped giving money to a group that helps people in Palestine (UNRWA). They’re also looking again at the UN’s cultural group, UNESCO. A White House worker, Will Scharf, said this happened because these UN groups seem to be against America.
US to Check UN Funding
Scharf also said the US wants to see if it’s giving too much money to the UN compared to other countries. The US is one of 47 countries in the UN Human Rights Council. Each country is chosen for three years. The US was supposed to be in it until December 31. But Trump’s order means the US won’t do anything with the council anymore. This includes checking on human rights in different countries.
Trump Says UN Needs to Improve
Trump said the UN is not doing a good job. He thinks it could be great, but it needs to improve. Trump thinks the UN should be helping more with solving world problems. He said the US doesn’t get much help from the UN.
UN Responds to Trump
The US gives the most money to the UN, about 22% of its main budget and 27% of its peacekeeping budget. After that is China. A UN spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is working hard to make the UN better.
Dujarric also said the US’s money has helped save many lives. The UN wants to keep working with Trump.
Money Matters at the UN
The UN Security Council has 15 members. The US is one of five permanent members. This group’s job is to keep peace around the world. The UN says the US owes it $2.8 billion, including $1.5 billion for regular things. This money is required to pay. Trump said he doesn’t want to stop giving money to the UN which has 193 member countries. But he thinks the US gives too much compared to others.
Israel and UNRWA
This happened when Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was visiting Washington. Netanyahu has always been saying bad things about UNRWA. He thinks it’s against Israel and that some UNRWA staff do bad things.
UNRWA Facing Problems
Israel stopped UNRWA from working in its area on January 30. UNRWA’s leader, Philippe Lazzarini, said [[people]] are saying false things about the group, calling it a [[terrorist]] group.
The US used to give UNRWA lots of money, between $300 million and $400 million a year. But that stopped in January 2024 after Israel said UNRWA workers were involved in a [[Hamas]] attack on October 7, 2023. The attack caused a war in [[Gaza]]. The US won’t give UNRWA any money until at least March 2025. UNRWA helps many Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.
The UN said nine UNRWA workers might have been involved in the October 7 attack, and they lost their jobs. The UN says it will check all the things people are saying about UNRWA. It wants Israel to give proof, but Israel hasn’t done that yet.