Due to a funding shortage, the United Nations will have to repatriate about 25% of its peacekeepers, police, and mission personnel in the coming months, with an estimated 13,000 to 14,000 individuals affected.
On the 8th, a UN official told Reuters that the affected peacekeeping operations include regions such as South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Kosovo, Cyprus, the Central African Republic, Western Sahara, the Golan Heights demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria, and the jointly administered Abyei area between South Sudan and Sudan.
It was revealed that this decision was made because of a sharp deterioration in the UN's financial situation, particularly after the US Trump administration cut aid and froze funding, resulting in the United Nations facing its most severe funding crisis in a decade.
According to UN statistics, the United States is the largest contributor to peacekeeping funds, bearing about 26% of the cost, closely followed by China with nearly 24%. These funds are mandatory contributions, not voluntary donations.
It is reported that before the start of the new fiscal year, the US had already owed about $1.5 billion, and now the arrears have accumulated to another $1.3 billion, making the total debt exceed $2.8 billion (around MYR 11.8 billion).