US to exit 66 international organizations
Shafaq News– Washington
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said Washington will withdraw from dozens of international organizations and United Nations bodies, marking a sharp expansion of his administration’s retreat from multilateral institutions.
According to a memorandum circulated within the administration, Trump listed 35 non-UN organizations and 31 UN-affiliated bodies that Washington intends to exit. Among them is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the central treaty underpinning global climate cooperation and the foundation of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The document further sets out plans to leave UN Women, which focuses on gender equality and women’s empowerment, as well as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), an agency supporting reproductive health and maternal care in more than 150 countries. US funding for UNFPA has already undergone significant reductions.
That direction comes after the United States skipped last year’s UN climate summit, marking its first absence from the gathering in more than three decades.
Manish Bapna, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, noted that no country has ever formally departed from the UNFCCC, adding that participation extends beyond climate responsibility to include influence over global economic policy and access to emerging opportunities.
As in his first term, Trump has removed the US from the Paris climate accord and UNESCO, the UN’s cultural and educational agency, which Washington had rejoined under President Joe Biden.
Beyond climate and culture, Trump has also pulled the United States out of the World Health Organization (WHO) and reduced foreign aid, steps that have forced several UN agencies — including the World Food Programme and the UN refugee agency — to scale back operations in multiple countries.
