On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that established a more comprehensive assessment of US support for the global organisation and withdrew Washington from several UN organisations, including the Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
Washington will reevaluate its membership in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and withdraw from the United Nations Human Rights Council and UNRWA, the main UN aid agency for Palestinians, according to the executive order.
Protest actions were taken in response to what White House staff secretary Will Scharf called “anti-American bias” in the United Nations organizations.
On December 31, the United States concluded its most recent term as a member of the UN Human Rights Council, which has 47 members elected by the General Assembly to three-year terms.
At the body, it is currently an observer. The directive issued on Tuesday seems to terminate the United States’ involvement in all council activities, including the evaluation of nations’ human rights records and particular claims of violations of such rights.
“More generally, the executive order calls for review of American involvement and funding in the UN in light of the wild disparities and levels of funding among different countries,” Scharf stated.
Despite highlighting the UN’s “tremendous potential,” Trump claimed that it is “not being well run.”
“It should be funded by everybody, but we’re disproportionate, as we always seem to be,” he stated.
Trump has long criticised Washington’s global payment levels and demanded that other nations contribute more, particularly to the military alliance NATO.
Many of the 1.9 million people who have been displaced by the war in Gaza rely on UNRWA’s delivery to survive, making it the primary humanitarian organisation for Palestinians.
Washington has supported Israel’s decision to ban the organisation under Trump after the US ally charged UNRWA with disseminating hate speech.