UNFPA, UNFCCC… Trump orders US withdrawal from 66 global organisations
US President Donald Trump has ordered the country’s withdrawal from 66 international organisations, saying they operate against America’s national interests.
The White House said 31 of the affected bodies are United Nations (UN) agencies, while 35 are non-UN organisations.
The decision followed a comprehensive review conducted by the US State Department earlier this year, covering all international intergovernmental organisations, conventions, and treaties to which the United States is a signatory. The presidential declaration authorising the withdrawals was signed on Wednesday.
Trump directed all executive departments and federal agencies to take immediate steps to complete the withdrawal process as quickly as possible.
Among the organisations listed are the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
UNFPA supports family planning, maternal healthcare, and initiatives aimed at ending gender-based violence and harmful practices such as child marriage. The United States has historically been one of the fund’s major donors, supporting programmes in more than 150 countries.
The UNFCCC coordinates global efforts to address climate change, including international agreements such as the Paris Accord and the annual Conference of the Parties (COP) meetings. Trump has consistently dismissed climate change as a “scam”.
In a separate statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration concluded that the organisations were “redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, and captured by actors advancing their own interests”.
“The days of billions of dollars in taxpayer money flowing to foreign interests at the expense of our people are over,” Rubio said.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has moved to withdraw the United States from several multilateral bodies. These include the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Paris Climate Agreement. He also signed an executive order pulling the US out of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and barring future funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
