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1 1 (April 9, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/govepxo0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service informing the legisiitive debate since 1914 Updated April 9, 2024 United Nations Issues: U.S. Funding of U.N. Peacekeeping The United States is the single largest financial contributor to United Nations (U.N.) peacekeeping activities. Congress authorizes and appropriates U.S. contributions, and it has an ongoing interest in ensuring such funding is used as efficiently and effectively as possible. The United States, as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, plays a key role in establishing, renewing, and funding U.N. peacekeeping operations. For 2024, the United Nations assessed the U.S. share of U.N. peacekeeping at 26.94%; however, since 1994 Congress has capped the U.S. payment at 25% due to concerns that U.S. assessments are too high. Congress appropriated $1.37 billion to most U.N. peacekeeping activities for FY2024 (up to the 25% cap). Due to the gap between the U.N. assessment and the 25% cap, the United States has accumulated over $1.1 billion in arrears since FY2017. President Biden's FY2025 budget request would fund the U.N. peacekeeping operations up to the 25% cap. Overview of U.N. Peacekeepin The United Nations currently operates 11 U.N. peacekeeping missions worldwide, with more than 70,000 military, police, and civilian personnel from over 100 countries. The Security Council adopts a resolution to establish each operation and specify how it will be funded. Historically, the Council has authorized the U.N. General Assembly to create a separate assessed account for each operation to be supported by member states' contributions. In recent years, due to concerns about budget shortfalls, the General Assembly has pooled peacekeeping funding to allow for increased financial flexibility. The General Assembly adopts the scale of assessments for U.N. member contributions to peacekeeping operations every three years. The peacekeeping scale is based on a modification of the U.N. regular budget scale, with the five permanent council members assessed at a higher level than for the regular budget. For example, the United States is assessed at 22% of the regular budget; however, its current peacekeeping assessment is 26.94%. Other top contributors include China, Japan, and Germany (Table 1). In December 2021, the General Assembly adopted the assessment rates for the 2022-2024 time period. Assessment rates for 2025- 2027 will likely be adopted in December 2024. Table I. Top Financial Contributors by Assessment Country Percentage Country Percentage 1. United States 26.94 6. France 5.28 2. China 18.68 7. Italy 3.18 3. Japan 8.03 8. Canada 2.62 4. Germany 6.11 9. S. Korea 2.57 5. U.K. 5.35 10. Russia 2.28 Source: U.N. document, A/76/296/Rev. I/Add. 1, December 28, 2021. Some U.N. members, often referred to as troop contributing countries (TCCs), voluntarily provide military and police personnel for each mission. Peacekeepers are paid by their own governments, which are reimbursed by the United Nations at a standard rate determined by the General Assembly (about $1,428 per soldier per month). The peacekeeping financial year runs from July 1 to June 30; the Assembly usually adopts resolutions to finance missions in late June. The approved budget for the 2023- 2024 peacekeeping fiscal year is $6.1 billion. Costs vary considerably among operations, with three of the missions in Africa constituting over 50% of the budget (UNMISS in South Sudan, MINUSCA in the Central African Republic, and MONUSCO in the Democratic Republic of Congo). U.S. Policy Background and Context: The Enacted U.S. Cap. In the early 1990s, the U.S. peacekeeping assessment was over 30%, which Congress found too high. In 1994, Members capped U.S. funding at 25% of the peacekeeping budget for all fiscal years after 1995 (Section 404 of P.L. 103-236). Over the years, the gap between the actual U.S. assessment and the cap led to funding shortfalls. The State Department and Congress often covered these by raising the cap for limited periods and/or by allowing the application of U.N. peacekeeping credits (excess U.N. funds from previous missions) to fund outstanding U.S. balances. For many years, these actions allowed the United States to pay its peacekeeping dues in full. However, since FY2017 Congress has declined to raise the cap, and in mid-2017, the Trump Administration allowed for the application of peacekeeping credits up to, but not beyond, the 25% cap- which has led to the accumulation of over $1.1 billion in U.S. arrears since FY2017. In early 2021, President Biden reversed the policy and allowed for the applications of peacekeeping credits beyond the cap. Key Accounts and Recent Funding Levels. U.S. assessed contributions to U.N. peacekeeping are provided mostly through the Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities (CIPA) account, which is funded through annual State Department-Foreign Operations (SFOPS) Appropriations Acts. CIPA funds the majority of U.N. peacekeeping operations, as well as the U.N. criminal tribunals and mission monitoring activities. In addition, the Contributions to International Organizations (CIO) account funds two observer missions, UNTSO (Israel and the Palestinians) and UNMOGIP (India and Pakistan), through U.S. funding to the U.N. regular budget. The Peacekeeping Operations account, which funds most non-U.N. peacekeeping and regional stability operations, provides assessed funding to the U.N. Support Office in Somalia, a U.N.-authorized logistics mission that supports the African Union Mission in Somalia. The FY2024 SFOPS Act (Division F of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024; P.L. 118-47) provides $1.37 billion to the CIPA account (up to the

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