The United Nations, anticipating that President Trump will slash U.S. contributions to the worldwide physique, has instructed its departments to attract up plans for price range cuts, together with by workers relocations from New York and Geneva to less-expensive cities.
The directions — outlined in a two-page memo dated April 25 that was reviewed by The New York Occasions — had been despatched from Secretary Normal António Guterres’s workplace to the heads of all companies that report on to him. The memo set a Might 15 deadline for all proposals in order that they might be added to the 2026 price range.
“Your goal is to establish as many features as doable that might be relocated to current lower-cost places,” the memo reads, “or in any other case decreased or abolished if they’re duplicative or now not viable.”
In February, President Trump signed an government order calling for a review of the overall U.S. funding and ties to the U.N. He withdrew america from a number of U.N. organizations, together with these coping with human rights, girls’s reproductive rights, local weather change, Palestinian help and international well being. In his first time period, he additionally decreased U.S. contributions to peacekeeping efforts.
Three senior U.N. officers mentioned on Tuesday that the drastic, cost-cutting measures specified by the memo had caught the company’s departments unexpectedly and went past what that they had anticipated. The officers, who requested anonymity as a result of they weren’t licensed to talk publicly, mentioned the directive was largely considered as a approach for the U.N. to brace for potential further cuts by Mr. Trump and to proactively insulate it from the monetary blow.
However the U.N. officers mentioned the price range cuts had been ordered solely partly in response to Mr. Trump’s strikes. The directive comes because the U.N. is adjusting to a number of monetary issues, they mentioned, from the withdrawal and discount in monetary contributions by main donors like america and Europe to a cash-flow disaster attributable to member states’ not paying their annual dues on time and in full.
Mr. Guterres introduced on March 12 that he was launching an initiative known as UN80 — named for the group’s eightieth anniversary — to create cost-effective measures and enhance effectivity throughout the group.
“These are occasions of intense uncertainty and unpredictability,” Mr. Guterres mentioned on the time. “Assets are shrinking throughout the board — they usually have been for a very long time.”
He additionally mentioned {that a} discount in funding from america and different nations had “naturally led to the necessity by the companies that ship these companies to scale back workers, to shrink their dimension and to remove many actions.”
Stéphane Dujarric, the U.N. spokesman, mentioned the April 25 memo had resulted from the UN80 initiative.
Richard Gowan, the U.N. director for the Worldwide Disaster Group, mentioned that whereas the U.N. was portraying the strikes as an inner overhaul, in actuality, that they had resulted from stress by and nervousness concerning the Trump administration.
“The U.S. cuts, the vary of the cuts and scale of the cuts have actually shocked the U.N.,” Mr. Gowan mentioned in an interview. “So Guterres is now frankly racing to meet up with a really unhealthy state of affairs.”
America is the most important contributor to the U.N., accounting for practically 25 p.c of its general price range, which in 2024 amounted to about $3.6 billion and went towards administrative and peacekeeping wants. America can also be a serious donor to varied U.N. companies for humanitarian aid work; in 2022, america contributed about $18 billion to the U.N. throughout the board.
Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden even have introduced deep cuts in worldwide help, together with to the U.N., with the intention to deal with home wants and protection priorities. China, a serious contributor to the U.N., has historically stepped up funding towards packages that align with its personal pursuits, like peacekeeping.
Now, the U.N. estimates it will face a 20 p.c price range discount for 2026 because of funding cuts, in response to Mr. Gowan, which might quantity to billions of {dollars} in losses.
Some companies, together with UNICEF and the Workplace for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, mentioned that they had already begun cost-cutting opinions separate from the Guterres directive.
A senior official at UNICEF mentioned the company was anticipating not less than a 20 p.c price range lower for 2026. UNICEF can also be contemplating relocating a large portion of its workers to Valencia, Spain, from New York, the senior official mentioned. The purpose, he added, was to make sure any price range shortfall would have as little impact as doable on packages that serve kids.
UNICEF is funded by donations from member states, the personal sector and people. It doesn’t obtain cash from the U.N.’s general price range.
Even earlier than the memo was despatched, Mr. Guterres mentioned final month that the U.N.’s Inhabitants Fund, which focuses on girls’s well being and reproductive rights, would transfer its whole operation to Nairobi, Kenya, from New York.
Tom Fletcher, the U.N.’s high humanitarian chief, additionally announced to staff this month that the agency was scaling back its operations in a number of nations;, sustaining a hiring freeze and journey restrictions; and lowering workers by 20 p.c.
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