The UN chief says the US has a “legal obligation” to fund agencies after Trump’s withdrawal order

NEW YORK (AP) — The United States has a “legal obligation” to continue paying dues that fund U.N. agencies after the White House announced it was withdrawing support from more than 30 initiatives run by the world body.

Read more: The United States will leave 66 international organizations as Trump withdraws from global cooperation

Secretary-General António Guterres said he regrets President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from 31 agencies linked to the United Nations, including the UN population agency and the UN treaty that defines international climate negotiations. The United States will also distance itself from dozens of other global organizations or initiatives not associated with the United Nations

“As we have consistently emphasized, assessed contributions to the UN regular budget and the peacekeeping budget, as approved by the General Assembly, are a legal obligation under the UN Charter for all member states, including the United States,” Stephane Dujarric, Guterres’ spokesman, said in a statement.

He added that despite the announcement, the targeted UN entities would continue to do their work: “The United Nations has a responsibility to deliver services to those who depend on us.”

The strong response from the United Nations comes after the world body spent the better part of the past year in a hostile and somewhat fragile struggle with US officials, who, after Trump returned to office, focused on eliminating billions of dollars in aid and funding for international organizations such as the United Nations and humanitarian aid in general.

Through several public and private conciliatory appeals, UN officials, including Guterres, have been able to persuade Trump and his allies not to completely abandon the institution that the United States helped establish on the ruins of World War II, including through a $2 billion agreement for humanitarian aid announced last month. But America’s decline has already influenced other Western countries, including France and the United Kingdom, to reevaluate humanitarian funding, with many diverting this money toward military spending.

But Wednesday’s announcement surprised diplomats at the highest levels at the United Nations, who said they learned of the withdrawal through news reports and social media at the White House. Dujarric told reporters that there had been no official communication from the Trump administration explaining the decision.

Several UN officials declined to comment on the impact on their agencies because they had not gotten details or official word from anyone in the US government.

Trump’s executive order

After a year-long review of participation in and funding of all international organizations, Trump signed an executive order suspending US support for 66 groups, agencies and committees.

Many of the targets are UN-linked agencies, committees and advisory committees focused on climate, labor, immigration and other issues that the Trump administration has labeled as catering to diversity and “wokeness” initiatives.

The administration has previously suspended its support for the World Health Organization, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA, the United Nations Human Rights Council, and the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO. It has taken a more selective approach to paying dues to the global organization, selecting operations and agencies that it believes align with Trump’s agenda and those that no longer serve US interests.

He watches: Potential implications of Trump’s decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization

Some of the affected agencies, including the United Nations Population Fund, an organization that provides sexual and reproductive health services around the world, had long been a lightning rod for Republican opposition, and Trump cut funding for them during his first term.

The withdrawal from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC, was no less surprising, as Trump and his allies had previously withdrawn US support for other climate initiatives.

The 1992 agreement between 198 countries to provide financial support for climate change activities in developing countries is the core treaty of the landmark Paris Climate Agreement. Trump withdrew from this agreement shortly after his return to the White House.

Simon Steele, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, warned the United States that the decision to withdraw would harm “the US economy, jobs and living standards, as wildfires, floods, mega-storms and droughts rapidly worsen.”

“The doors remain open for the United States to re-enter in the future, as it did in the past with the Paris Agreement,” he said in a statement. At the same time, the scale of the business opportunity in clean energy, climate resilience, and advanced electric technology remains too large for American investors and companies to ignore.

United States contribution to the United Nations budget

The UN’s regular budget, which funds its day-to-day operations and core activities, is funded by its 193 member states, each of which pays a percentage based on the size of its economy. The United States, the world’s largest economy, is supposed to pay 22%, followed by China with 20%. There is a separate budget to fund UN peacekeeping operations, of which the United States must pay 25%.

UN officials said the United States did not pay its annual contributions to the regular budget last year, an obligation stipulated in the UN Charter. A member who is late in participating for two full years loses his vote in the General Assembly.

“The charter is not selective,” Dujarric said. “We will not renegotiate the charter.”

All four other permanent members with veto power in the UN Security Council – China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom – have paid the full amount. China paid more than $685 million.

Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer contributed to this report from the United Nations.