The United States recently made a payment of about $160 million to the United Nations, part of a debt of more than $4 billion, as Donald Trump launched the first meeting of his controversial new initiative, the ‘Board of Peace’.
According to a UN spokesman, the payment is a small part of the US’s arrears on the regular budget, where the country still owes more than $2.19 billion on the UN’s regular budget, $2.4 billion for peacekeeping missions, and $43.6 million for UN tribunals.
The total US debt exceeds $4 billion, making it the world’s largest contributor to arrears.
Although the US is the UN’s largest contributor, the Trump administration has previously withheld mandatory payments, reduced voluntary contributions, and withdrawn from dozens of UN agencies.
In his opening remarks at the ‘Board of Peace’ meeting, Trump stressed that Washington would support the UN financially and ensure the organization is ‘viable’, because according to him, the UN has great potential that has not been fully realized.
The initiative was originally proposed as part of a plan to end Israel's war in Gaza, where the board was supposed to oversee the interim administration of the territory.
However, Trump later stated that the board would also address other global conflicts.
The move drew criticism from UN experts who assessed the structure of the board as resembling a colonial model, as no Palestinian representative was involved and no UN representative was present at the first meeting.
Many countries, including major Global South powers and key US allies, have also reportedly refused to join the initiative.
The partial debt payment shows the US is trying to meet its financial obligations to the UN, but the 'Board of Peace' raises big questions: will it strengthen the UN's role or weaken it?
With the absence of Palestinian participation and several countries refusing to get involved, experts have stressed that the move could undermine the UN's credibility in dealing with global conflicts.
