President Donald Trump has ordered the United States to withdraw from 66 international organizations, including major UN agencies, hastening Washington’s retreat from multilateral cooperation.
Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday directing US departments to end participation in and funding for 31 United Nations entities and 35 non-UN organizations “as soon as possible,” according to a White House release.
Which prominent international bodies has the US withdrawn from?
Here are some of the most important and well-known organizations the US is withdrawing from:
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): The world’s leading authority on climate science, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007
- UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): The main UN body for climate negotiations
- UN Women: The main UN body on gender equality
- Office of the Special Representative of the secretary-general for Children in Armed Conflict
- Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict
- UN Population Fund (UNFPA): Major UN agency on population, reproductive health, and demographics
- International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
- UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
- UN Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat)
- International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
- International Solar Alliance (ISA)
- Venice Commission (Council of Europe)
- Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP)
- Colombo Plan Council
- Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU): A body intended to aid the non-prliferation of nuclear and biollogical weapons in several former Soviet states
Why is the US withdrawing?
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that some of the institutions were working in agendas contrary to the interests of the United States.
Many of the organizations are UN-affiliated agencies and panels focused on climate, labor, migration and social policy areas the administration has labelled “woke” or says promotes diversity.
The US president has argued that international agencies often fail to US interests.
The move follows Trump’s earlier decisions to quit the Paris climate accord, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN’s cultural organization UNESCO, and to cut funding for UN agencies including the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA.
Last year, the US slashed foreign assistance through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), forcing several UN bodies to scale back operations primarily impacting developing countries and global public health.
Trump pushes for fossil fuels
Trump’s decision to quit a foundational climate treaty and the world’s leading climate science body comes amid an aggressive push for fossil fuels at home while repeatedly dismissing climate change as a “hoax” and renewable energy as a “scam.”
On Tuesday, Trump doubled down on that stance, writing on Truth Social that Venezuela would be “turning over” between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, days after US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Edited by: Zac Crellin
