The United Nations, anticipating that President Trump will slash U.S. contributions to the worldwide physique, has informed its departments to attract up plans for funds cuts, together with via 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 Instances — had been despatched from Secretary Common 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 could possibly be added to the 2026 funds.
“Your goal is to determine as many capabilities as attainable that could possibly be relocated to current lower-cost places,” the memo reads, “or in any other case lowered or abolished if they’re duplicative or now not viable.”
In February, President Trump signed an govt order calling for a review of the overall U.S. funding and ties to the U.N. He withdrew the USA 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 lowered U.S. contributions to peacekeeping efforts.
Three senior U.N. officers stated on Tuesday that the drastic, cost-cutting measures specified by the memo had caught the company’s departments unexpectedly and went past what they’d anticipated. The officers, who requested anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to talk publicly, stated the directive was largely seen as a method for the U.N. to brace for potential extra cuts by Mr. Trump and to proactively insulate it from the monetary blow.
However the U.N. officers stated the funds 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 economic issues, they stated, from the withdrawal and discount in monetary contributions by main donors like the USA 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 stated on the time. “Sources are shrinking throughout the board — they usually have been for a very long time.”
He additionally stated {that a} discount in funding from the USA 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 eradicate many actions.”
Stéphane Dujarric, the U.N. spokesman, stated the April 25 memo had resulted from the UN80 initiative.
Richard Gowan, the U.N. director for the Worldwide Disaster Group, stated that whereas the U.N. was portraying the strikes as an inside overhaul, in actuality, they’d resulted from strain 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 stated in an interview. “So Guterres is now frankly racing to meet up with a really dangerous scenario.”
The USA is the biggest contributor to the U.N., accounting for practically 25 p.c of its total funds, which in 2024 amounted to about $3.6 billion and went towards administrative and peacekeeping wants. America can be a serious donor to varied U.N. companies for humanitarian reduction work; in 2022, the USA 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 give attention to 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 could face a 20 p.c funds discount for 2026 on account of funding cuts, based on 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, stated they’d already begun cost-cutting critiques separate from the Guterres directive.
A senior official at UNICEF stated the company was anticipating a minimum of a 20 p.c funds lower for 2026. UNICEF can be contemplating relocating a large portion of its workers to Valencia, Spain, from New York, the senior official stated. The objective, he added, was to make sure any funds shortfall would have as little impact as attainable on packages that serve youngsters.
UNICEF is funded via donations from member states, the personal sector and people. It doesn’t obtain cash from the U.N.’s total funds.
Even earlier than the memo was despatched, Mr. Guterres stated final month that the U.N.’s Inhabitants Fund, which focuses on girls’s well being and reproductive rights, would transfer its complete 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.
