Is the UN Facing its Biggest Single Crisis in 80 Years?

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 3 2025 – The United Nations, in its nearly 80-year-old history, is on the verge of fighting for its survival, as the Trump administration continues with its threats to drastically cut funding and pull out of several UN agencies which provide mostly humanitarian assistance worldwide.

Elon Musk, the tech billionaire, who acts as a virtual Prime Minister to President Trump, has called on the U.S. to exit the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United Nations.

“I agree,” he wrote in response to a post from a right-wing political commentator saying “it’s time” for the U.S. to leave NATO and the UN.”

Described as Trump’s most powerful advisor, Musk has been ruthlessly cracking down on the US federal bureaucracy, as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Will the UN be his next target?

The threat against the UN has been reinforced following a move by several Republican lawmakers who have submitted a bill on the U.S. exit from the U.N., claiming that the organization does not align with the Trump administration’s “America First” agenda.

Kul Chandra Gautam, a former UN assistant secretary-general and onetime Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, told IPS if proof of the Trump/Musk administration’s mean & malevolent intentions were needed, this is it.

As part of its cost cutting, the US is terminating funding, among others, for polio, HIV/AIDS, malaria and nutrition programs around the world.

Most of these projects, he pointed out, were run by highly respected INGOs, UN agencies, governments and private contractors with a track record of success and efficiency. And many of them had received a waiver from the freeze because the State Department previously identified their work as essential and lifesaving.

“Here is a case of throwing the baby with the bathwater — millions of children and women cruelly condemned to become sick, malnourished and dying to satisfy the ego and hubris of the world’s richest man and a would-be Master of the Universe,” he added.

And there goes the mirage of “waiver” for essential and lifesaving projects, and the credibility of Trump/Rubio’s reasonable-sounding assurances, said Gautam.

Briefing reporters last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern over the impending crisis.

“I want to start by expressing my deep concern about information received in the last 48 hours by UN agencies — as well as many humanitarian and development NGOs — regarding severe cuts in funding by the United States. These cuts impact a wide range of critical programmes.”

From lifesaving humanitarian aid, to support for vulnerable communities recovering from war or natural disaster. From development, to the fight against terrorism and illicit drug trafficking.

“The consequences will be especially devastating for vulnerable people around the world,” he warned.

Andreas Bummel. executive director of Democracy Without Borders, told IPS it is not new that calls to withdraw the U.S. from the United Nations emerge from the ranks of the GOP.

While it seems unlikely, he pointed out, it cannot be ruled out that Trump will support this at some point or at least use the scenario to build up diplomatic pressure.

“The U.S. certainly has much more to lose than to gain from such a course of action but Trump’s actions aren’t necessarily rational or even what seems to be in the U.S.’ own best interest. Certainly, it can be expected that the U.S. first will reduce or threaten to reduce its UN contributions” declared Bummel.

The US currently provides 22 percent of the UN budget according to assessed contributions from member states. The 2024 regular and peacekeeping budget amounts to $3.59 billion.

Asked whether the US can unilaterally reduce its funding, Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury of Bangladesh and former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the UN, told IPS: “”No, the US cannot do that unilaterally”.

Normally, it will be negotiated in the Committee on Contributions through the agreement on the scale of assessment applicable to all Member States, he pointed out.

Finally, the issue goes to the Fifth Committee for a decision generally by consensus and subsequently confirmed by the UNGA.

“That is why US Ambassador Richard Holbrooke’s diplomatic skills were needed in 2000-01 to bring down the US contributions to the UN from 25% to 22%, the process as described with the agreement of all countries”.

As the UN scale of contributions is calculated on the basis of 100%, therefore any reduction of contributions scale needs to be made up by increasing another country/countries scale for the total to reach 100%, he explained.

Of course, if you withdraw the US membership from an UN entity, then obviously you are not obligated to pay.

If there are some pending contributions, the haggling would ensue, said Ambassador Chowdhury, a former chairman of the Fifth Committee (1997-98) and a two-term Vice Chairman of the all-powerful UN Committee on Programmes and Coordination (1984-85).

Another way to punish the UN is to delay the on-time payment of the full share of a major contributor as required by the Charter or to make a part payment of the US share of contributions. These tactics were used in the past by the US.

Again, Ambassador Holbrooke invited the all-powerful Chairman of the Seante Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jesse Helms during the US Presidency of the Security Council in January 2000 and got Helms’ agreement to pay up the huge US arrear contributions to the UN contingent upon lowering of the US contributions to the organization.”

Asked for details on how much money the United Nations is set to lose, and what specific programmes are being cut, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters February 28: “We have been informed, and this started a while back but intensified over the last few days, is various agencies have gotten letters? We don’t have a ballpark figure, because this has been done in a bit of a… frankly, in a chaotic way.”

“But I can tell you that, for example, our colleagues at the UN [Office on] Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have had about 50 projects terminated. As the SG said, their office in Mexico, which deals among other things with the flow of fentanyl, may have to close. It will impact their programmes in Central America and the Darien Gap, focusing on fighting human trafficking”.

“The IOM’s (International Organization for Migration) programmes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have basically shut down. Their programs in Haiti are at risks. And our FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) colleagues received 27 termination letters, and the list goes on,” he said.

The Secretary-General has been on the phone with the heads of the major humanitarian development agencies to express his solidarity, but also to get a vision, to get a good picture, snapshot of what is going on, which is not a positive one in any way. Agencies are in touch with their counterparts, if they can find them, in the US Government, he said.

“So, we’re continuing trying to seek some clarity. But I can tell you that for our side, our priority and our focus and our determination remains on doing everything we can to continue to provide life-saving aid to those who urgently need it,” said Dujarric.

The United States, he said, remains a founding member and a critical member of this organization for decades.

“The generosity of the American people has helped to lift millions out of poverty, has helped to eradicate diseases, has frankly helped to build a more prosperous and safer world for which Americans benefit and the whole world benefits. We have tried at a fairly senior level to engage, especially on this issue, but I can’t say we’ve detected much interest on engaging on this issue,” he noted.

Asked whether the UN plans for cost-cutting as part of Plan B, Dujarric said: “Well, you know, obviously, we’re also looking at the diversification of our funding partners. Our colleague, Tom Fletcher, the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs, who chairs what we call the Interagency Committee which brings together UN agencies and NGOs… his message has also been clear, which is also that we have to figure out how we can save money?

“How we can become more efficient, how we can eliminate overlap, eliminate turf wars. So, I think we’re very conscious of what we need to do, and I think any organization can take a look at itself and decide that it can work better and faster.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

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