Pressured by Washington, the UN to examine peacekeeping missions including MINURSO

The John Bolton effect has clearly impacted the provisional programme of work of the Security Council for January 2019. Members of the UN Security Council will have to examine UN peacekeeping missions. The meeting dedicated to the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) is scheduled for January the 29th.  

Before examining MINURSO, several other missions will be scrutinized. On Thursday, January the 3rd, the Security Council members will hold a briefing followed by a consultation on (UNSOM) the United Nations Operation in Somalia.

On January the 8th, a briefing will be held on the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). Two days later, the United Nations Office for West Africa, based in Dakar, will be examined.

On January the 16th, members of the Security Council will discuss the situation of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). The next day, they will have to examine the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, one of oldest UN peacekeeping operations.

The US and UN peacekeeping missions

MINURSO, on the other hand, has been eyed by the US for a long time. In a UN Security Council Briefing, held in August, on the Maintenance of International Peace and Security : Mediation and Settlement of Disputes, Political Coordinator of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations Rodney Hunter commented on MINURSO.

However, the UN provisional programme of work of the Security Council for January 2019 is expected to hold a briefing on the MINURSO, which is not the case for the above-mentioned missions which will be consulted.  

For the record, the US has announced on several occasions that it wants to evaluate UN peacekeeping missions.

In a note published on December the 22nd by the United States Mission in the United Nations, U.S. Representative for UN Management and Reform Cherith Norman Chalet stated that Washington «sought to reform the way the peacekeeping operations are financed».

In a document entitled «Explanation of Position on Scales of Assessments for UN Peacekeeping Operations», the diplomat explained that «the United States firmly believes that no one Member State should pay more than one-quarter of the organization’s budget».

The diplomat confirmed that the United States will «pay no more than 25 percent of peacekeeping expenses, again a less than ideal outcome».