The U.S. and the UN in
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Congressional Briefing Book
Dear Colleague: Last spring, the Better World Campaign (BWC) and United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA) developed a congressional briefing book with information on the critical work of the United Nations. This year, we are providing an updated document to alert you to noteworthy recent achievements and how the U.S. and UN continue to work together to create a more peaceful, secure, and healthy world. The UN is not a perfect institution, but it serves a near-perfect purpose: to promote global cooperation and address some of the world’s most pressing challenges that no single country can resolve alone. Among other things, the UN is a platform for multilateral efforts to counter terrorism, stem the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and, through peacekeeping missions, to maintain order in some of the world’s most dangerous places so U.S. forces don’t have to. The UN also plays a leadership role on a variety of other issues—providing lifesaving humanitarian aid to millions affected by conflict and natural disasters; promoting democratic governance, human rights, and efforts to increase economic development and reduce poverty around the world; and coordinating the global response to public health challenges. All of these activities help buttress core American interests and values, allowing our nation to share the responsibility of promoting global peace, stability, and development with the rest of the international community. For these reasons, it is absolutely critical that the U.S. maintain its seat at the table by engaging constructively with the UN. That means paying our peacekeeping and regular budget dues on-time, in-full, and without preconditions. The American people understand this—in fact, year after year a bipartisan polling team has found that Americans overwhelmingly support a strong U.S.-UN partnership. We hope that you find the enclosed briefings—which cover a variety of key aspects of the U.S.-UN relationship—helpful, and invite you to visit our websites at betterworldcampaign.org and unausa.org for additional information. We look forward to working with you in the future.
Sincerely,
Peter Yeo
Chris Whatley
President Better World Campaign
Executive Director UNA-USA
TABLE of contents 05 About Us Our Mission 2016 Agenda
08 THE VALUE OF THE UN Delivering Around the World Benefiting the U.S. Economy U.S. Support for the UN
16 PEACE & SECURITY ISSUES UN Peacekeeping Countering Violent Extremism Supporting Global Non-Proliferation Efforts
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24 DEVELOPMENT & HUMAN RIGHTS The Global Goals Human Rights Council
29 U.S. DUES & CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE UN
34 UN Strengthening & Reform
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Our Mission
The Better World Campaign (BWC) works to foster a strong, effective relationship between the United States and the United Nations to promote core American interests and build a more secure, prosperous, and healthy world. BWC engages policymakers, the media, and the American public alike to increase awareness of the critical role played by the UN in world affairs and the importance of constructive U.S.-UN relations.
The United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) is a grassroots organization with 120 chapters and 17,000 members nationwide devoted to strengthening the U.S.UN relationship through public education and advocacy. For more than six decades, UNA-USA and its chapters and regions have stood at the forefront of building American support for the UN. Together, BWC and UNA-USA represent the single largest network of advocates and supporters of the UN in the world.
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2016 Agenda Each year, BWC and UNA-USA build support for U.S. policies that reinforce U.S. engagement in the United Nations and educate people about the real benefits the U.S. receives through our relationships with the UN. So that the UN can better address the transnational challenges of the 21st century, we are working with the Administration and Congress in 2016 to accomplish the following:
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Ensure payment of our nation’s UN regular budget and peacekeeping dues on time, in full, and without conditions.
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Promote greater U.S. assistance to UN peacekeeping operations to strengthen each mission’s capabilities in logistics, training, doctrine, and management expertise.
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Spotlight the value of UN specialized agencies in enhancing American interests; build support for fully funding their crucial mandates; and realize the restoration of funding for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
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Further constructive engagement on structural and management reforms at the UN and the continued implementation of ongoing reforms.
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Encourage continued U.S. engagement with the UN Human Rights Council.
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Advocate for progress towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN General Assembly last year.
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Support Senate ratification of key international agreements, including the Conventions on the Law of the Sea, the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
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The
Value of
the UN
Delivering Around the World Every day, on a wide range of issues and in a diverse set of locations, the United Nations and its extensive family of agencies, programs, and funds work to create a more secure, peaceful, and healthy world. From UN peacekeepers, who help stabilize some of the world’s most volatile conflict zones, to UN humanitarian agencies, who provide lifesaving food assistance, shelter, medical care, and other forms of aid to tens of millions of people every year, the work of the UN helps promote core American interests and values on a number of fronts.
By working through the UN and sharing the financial burden for carrying out these activities with the rest of the international community, we are able to advance our foreign policy goals at a much lower cost than by acting alone. The following provides a snapshot of the UN’s work in a number of different countries. While this list is by no means exhaustive, it does seek to illustrate the broad and far-reaching impact of the UN and various UN-affiliated agencies in an array of operational contexts.
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Syria, Iraq, & Jordan Conflict in Syria and Iraq has created a massive humanitarian crisis in the heart of the Middle East, driving millions of people from their homes and leaving millions more dependent on aid in order to survive. Delivering humanitarian assistance in this region is complicated by a number of factors, including sieges imposed on civilian populations by parties to the conflict, and rapidly growing needs paired with persistent shortfalls in funding. Despite these challenges, however, various UN agencies are playing a central role in efforts to respond to the situation. The World Food Program (WFP), for example, is distributing food aid to more than 4 million people in Syria, 1.3 million Syrian refugees in neighboring countries, and 1.5 million displaced Iraqis every month. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is providing shelter, mattresses, heating supplies, counselling, and other forms of assistance to displaced people throughout the region. Meanwhile, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is helping to provide more than 16.5 million Syrians with access to clean water, as well as hygiene supplies, educational support, winter clothing, and lifesaving vaccines to millions of children affected by the fighting. These activities are not only critical to the people who have been directly affected by the conflict, but also to countries in the region where displaced Syrians have sought shelter. For example, Jordan, a key U.S. ally, is currently hosting more than 600,000 Syrian refugees, placing an enormous strain on the country’s infrastructure and finances. Food aid provided to refugees by WFP, in the form of electronic vouchers that recipients can use to purchase food in local stores, has helped inject nearly $400 million into the Jordanian economy and created 400 jobs in the food retail sector. As a result, international humanitarian aid provided through the UN contributes to the economic security of Jordan and other neighboring countries whose own stability is under threat.
Ukraine Since April 2014, violence in eastern Ukraine has claimed the lives of more than 9,000 people and forced 1.6 million more to flee their homes, causing a significant deterioration in the country’s humanitarian situation, particularly in the flashpoint provinces of Donetsk
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and Luhansk. UN humanitarian agencies have responded by providing aid to some of the most vulnerable people on both sides of the frontline. In December 2015, UNICEF supported a polio vaccination campaign that benefitted nearly 1.7 million Ukrainian children between the ages of 2 months and 6 years. As part of a winterization campaign, UNHCR is providing shelter and building supplies, blankets, winter clothing, heating fuel, and other critical materials to displaced Ukrainians. WHO is providing essential medicines—which are in short supply in Donetsk and Luhansk—to local hospitals, and the WFP is working to provide food assistance to nearly 575,000 civilians.
Nepal In April and May of 2015, Nepal was struck by two major earthquakes, leaving nearly 9,000 people dead and several million more in need of emergency aid. Over the weeks and months that followed, the UN, international NGOs, and foreign governments mounted a major relief effort. Nearly two million Nepalese received food assistance via the WFP, including through a cash-for-work program designed to help clear earthquake rubble from community infrastructure. UNICEF provided safe drinking water, hygiene supplies, and temporary learning spaces to help hundreds of thousands of children in the earthquake zone. The World Health Organization (WHO) distributed emergency health kits containing essential medicines and supplies to Nepalese hospitals, coordinated the arrival and deployment of foreign medical teams to the country, and supported efforts to help health facilities damaged by the earthquakes resume services.
south sudan In December 2013, civil war broke out in South Sudan between forces supporting President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar. Since then, the conflict has taken on ethnic overtones, killing tens of thousands of people, forcing more than 2.2 million to flee their homes, and leaving nearly 3.9 million people in severe food insecurity. Originally created to support South Sudan’s stability and development following its independence from Sudan in 2011, this crisis forced the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to shift its focus, virtually overnight, from state-building to civilian protection. In an unprecedented move,
UNMISS opened the gates of its bases to those fleeing the violence, and soon saw tens of thousands of South Sudanese descend on them. Currently, UN peacekeepers are providing security and shelter to nearly 200,000 civilians in six UN-administered protection sites across the country.
Côte d’Ivoire Following national elections in 2010, the West African country of Côte d’Ivoire was thrown into crisis when the incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo, refused to concede defeat to his opponent, Alassane Ouattara, and launched a campaign of violence against Mr. Ouattara’s supporters. During the four-month crisis that followed, the UN peacekeeping mission (known as UNOCI) and its base were attacked, nearly one million people were driven from their homes, and 3,000 were killed. In a proactive effort to protect civilians in the commercial capital of Abidjan, UNOCI teamed with French forces to destroy stockpiles of heavy weapons that Mr. Gbagbo’s forces had been using against civilians. Ultimately, the joint UN operation with the French shortened the conflict, saving lives, and paving the way for Mr. Ouattara’s inauguration.
Since that time, Côte d’Ivoire has made important strides in political stabilization and economic growth. For the last three years, the Ivorian economy has experienced remarkable annual growth. This growth is due in large part to an improved security environment, in which UNOCI has played an integral role. In another sign of progress, on October 25, 2015, the country successfully held its second presidential election since the 2010 crisis. While not entirely free of controversy, the election was nevertheless mostly peaceful, and nearly 5,000 national and international observers judged the voting process to be generally free, fair, and transparent. UNOCI and the UN Development Program (UNDP) provided crucial assistance to Ivorian authorities throughout the electoral process, helping the government design and implement a comprehensive security plan to prevent election-related violence, facilitating the delivery of election materials to and retrieval of results from polling stations across the country, and supporting efforts to increase women’s participation. In large part because of this and other critical signs of progress, UNOCI is currently in the process of drawing down its force levels, and the mission may withdraw entirely from the country by the end of 2016.
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Benefiting the U.S. Economy For more than 70 years, U.S. engagement with, and financial investments in, the UN have advanced America’s core interests and values on the world stage. Perhaps less obvious is the fact that in addition to these larger strategic considerations, the U.S. also derives tangible economic benefits from the work of the UN on a variety of fronts. Research conducted by the Better World Campaign has found that corporations and organizations operating in the U.S. received contracts totaling $555 million with the UN Secretariat—which includes the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and other core UN offices—in 2014. These businesses provided a range of goods and services to support UN operations, including telecommunications, financial services, construction, food production, and production of armored vehicles. The UN contracts were executed in 30 states spanning more than 100 cities and communities including Missouri, Wisconsin, Washington, Virginia and Florida. The vast majority of the businesses are U.S.owned, accounting for $513 million of the total sum awarded to companies operating in the United States. A sampling of the contracts include:
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Company
Revenue
City
Accuity, Inc.
$103,968
Skokie, Illinois
Air Cargo
$159,942
Seattle, Washington
American Power Conversion
$215,199
West Kingston, Rhode Island
Colonial Hardware Corp.
$66,172
Springfield, New Jersey
Global Fleet
$11,445,635
Bonita Springs, Florida
Johnson Controls, Inc.
$766,956
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Lenovo, Inc.
$13,187,552
Morrisville, North Carolina
Pacific Architects & Engineers, Inc.
$14,948,563
Arlington, Virginia
Skanska USA Building, Inc.
$165,198,089
New York, New York
The Newberry Group
$535,742
St. Charles, Missouri
UN in New York = 5 Super Bowls Every Year The New York City economy benefits greatly as the permanent host city of the United Nations. Not only is the organization a leading source of local jobs, a 2015 study conducted by the NYC Mayor’s Office for International Affairs found that the annual economic output generated by UN-related workers totals more than $2.3 billion. To provide some context, that figure is nearly five times higher than the economic impact a city would receive from hosting the Super Bowl every year.
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U.S. Support for the UN Year after year, nationwide polling conducted by the bipartisan research team of Public Opinion Strategies and Hart Research Associates has demonstrated that Americans strongly support a strong U.S.-UN partnership. UNFAVORABLE
FAVORABLE
70%
63% 60% 53%
59%
58%
59%
54%
52%
48% 42% 35%
36% 30%
29%
31% 28%
28%
26%
19%
Before Iraq war 19992002
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Launch 8/20032006 of Iraq war 3-5/2003
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
October 2015
In October of 2015, the poll once again found that registered voters strongly favor a foreign policy approach that embraces a partnership model. More than 8 in 10—82 percent—of Americans agreed that to achieve our foreign policy goals, it is better for the United States to “work with major allies and through international organizations.” By contrast, only 15 percent said the U.S. should “act mainly on our own.” Importantly, this support was across party lines, with 75 percent of Republicans, 82 percent of Independents, and 90 percent of Democrats favoring the partnership model.
The poll also revealed that significant majorities of Republicans, Independents and Democrats believe it is “important the United States maintain an active role within the United Nations”: 81 percent of Republicans agreed, as did 84 percent of Independents and 98 percent of Democrats. Similarly, a strong majority of Americans, 67 percent, continue to support the United States paying our dues to the UN on time and in full with a breakdown of Republicans at 61 percent, Independents at 63 percent, and Democrats at 86 percent in favor.
9/10
americans believe the U.S. should play an active role in the UN.
Polling Shows Voters Want U.S. Dues Paid in Full
Support
More than two-thirds of voters
Don’t Know
Oppose
(67%) favor the U.S. paying UN dues on time and in full.
Other notable findings showed that voters are supportive of the UN’s new global goals for sustainable development. Respondents were told that, working through the United Nations, American and world leaders have established a set of seventeen global goals to end extreme poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development plan. These goals set specific targets for all countries to achieve over the next 15 years, regardless of their current level of development. Twenty-two percent of respondents reported awareness of the global goals, while favorable impressions scored 69 percent, and 83 percent agreed the United States should participate in a worldwide effort to accomplish the global goals by 2030.
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PEACE & SECURITY ISSUES
UN Peacekeeping: A Force for Peace & Stability around the World The UN currently oversees 16 peacekeeping operations with nearly 125,000 personnel, constituting the largest deployed military force in the world. UN peacekeepers work to stabilize conflict zones and prevent the collapse of fragile states by protecting civilians from violence, disarming, demobilizing, and reintegrating former combatants into society, facilitating the delivery of humanitarian assistance to populations in need, training and building the capacity of national police forces to protect law and order, and supporting free and fair elections. Given its position as a permanent, veto-wielding member of the Security Council, no UN peacekeeping operation can be deployed without U.S. consent, and in fact, both Republican and Democratic Administrations have used U.S. influence at the Council to champion new missions with more complex mandates. This bipartisan support stems from the fact that countries undergoing conflict threaten U.S. national security, risk becoming safe havens for terrorist and criminal organizations, and feature levels of deprivation and abuses of human rights that are an affront to American values. Some of the benefits of UN peacekeeping are described below.
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A 2013 study found that deploying large numbers of UN peacekeepers ”““dramatically reduces civilian killings.”” Effective: A 2013 study found that deploying large numbers of UN peacekeepers “dramatically reduces civilian killings.” To support their hypothesis, the authors examined monthly civilian death tolls from intrastate armed conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa between 1991 and 2008. Their findings were striking: in instances where no peacekeeping troops were deployed, the monthly average of civilian deaths was approximately 106. However, in instances where at least 8,000 UN troops were present, the average monthly death toll fell to less than two. The study concluded that ensuring UN peacekeeping forces “are appropriately tasked and deployed in large numbers” is critical to their ability to protect civilians.
Cost-effective: UN peacekeeping is, relatively speaking, a cost-effective endeavor compared to other military options. While UN peacekeepers currently constitute the largest deployed military force in the world, the UN’s annual peacekeeping budget only makes up around 0.5% of total annual global military expenditures. Moreover, according to a study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), UN peacekeeping operations are eight times less expensive than a comparable U.S. force. This point was backed up by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who said that UN peacekeeping “is much more cost-effective than using American forces. And of course, America doesn’t have the forces to do all of these peacekeeping missions…”
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International Burden-Sharing: While the U.S. possesses the strongest and most capable military in the world, it cannot—and should not—have to assume the risks and burdens associated with maintaining peace and security around the world alone. When conflicts in DR Congo, Mali, or South Sudan require boots on the ground to defuse conflict, peacekeeping is often the best instrument we have. Peacekeeping operations ensure that other countries help shoulder the burden, both by contributing troops and sharing the financial costs of operations. Indeed, according to U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power: “The multilateral nature of peacekeeping helps address the free-rider problem we see today in so many matters of international security – from the spread of Ebola, to the rise of ISIL, to the recruitment of foreign terrorist fighters – whereby countries with vested interests in addressing threats rely on the United States to do the lion’s share of the work. Peacekeeping gets other countries to stand up, rather than stand by.” While the U.S. pays a larger share of the UN’s peacekeeping budget than any other country, it plays a pivotal role in the decision to send peacekeepers into the field in the first place. Meanwhile, other UN member states—including countries like Bangladesh, Ghana, Nepal and Jordan—contribute the vast majority of uniformed personnel that serve on UN peacekeeping operations. Currently, less than 100 U.S. soldiers and police are deployed to UN missions, constituting less than 0.1% of all uniformed UN personnel, who hail from 122 countries overall.
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Peacekeeping gets other countries to stand up, rather than stand by.� Samantha Power U.S. Ambassador to the UN
quick factS
According to a study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), UN peacekeeping operations are eight times less expensive than a comparable U.S. force. Currently, less than 100 U.S. soldiers and police are deployed to UN missions, constituting less than 0.1% of all uniformed UN personnel, who hail from 122 countries overall.
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“
[United Nations] peacekeepers help promote stability and help reduce the risks that major U.S. military interventions may be required to restore stability in a country or region. Therefore the success of these operations is very much in our national interest.” Admiral Mike Mullen Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Bush and Obama
Over the past two decades, UN peacekeeping has experienced a number of important shifts: the number of personnel serving in the field is nearly 50% higher today than 10 years ago; approximately 98% of all uniformed peacekeeping personnel currently serve under a mandate to protect civilians from violence; and two-thirds of peacekeepers are deployed to active conflict zones, where they are sometimes viewed as legitimate targets for attack. These factors—the growth in the size of missions and the complexity of their mandates, paired with the evolving threat environments facing peacekeepers and concerns over whether missions are adequately resourced to meet these challenges—have placed the UN peacekeeping system under increasing strain, and are driving a reassessment of how the international community carries out peace operations. In late 2014, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed a High-Level Panel to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the current state of UN peace operations. Their final report, issued in June 2015, put forward a number of important recommendations for the UN, member states, and the Security Council on improving UN peacekeeping operations. Now, UN member states—including the U.S.—are discussing how to put some of these recommendations into practice. In tandem with this UN-led assessment, the U.S. has been working to enhance its own support and encourage other countries to provide more troops and equipment to UN peacekeeping missions. In September 2015, the U.S. organized a Leadership Summit on peacekeeping on the sidelines of the annual opening of the General Assembly, during which more than 50 countries pledged some 40,000 additional peacekeepers for possible deployment, as well as key force
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enablers such as helicopters, engineering and medical units, and counter IED capabilities. That same month, President Obama issued a new Presidential Policy Memorandum directing federal agencies to take actions related to strengthening and modernizing U.S. assistance to UN peace operations. This is the first Presidential guidance on multilateral peace operations in more than 20 years.
Countering Violent Extremism Terrorism and violent extremism pose a grave, persistent threat to international peace and security. As has been learned over the past two decades, terror networks operate in countries frequently beyond the reach of American access and influence – and with recent attacks in France, Lebanon, Turkey, Mali, and Indonesia, this problem requires a comprehensive, multilateral solution. The UN is an important partner in global efforts to fight terrorism and stamp out violent extremism, helping amplify and broaden the reach of our nation’s own counterterrorism initiatives. For several decades, the UN system has played a central role in efforts to build an international legal framework to combat terrorism, including the elaboration of multilateral treaties criminalizing specific terrorist acts and terrorism financing, as well as the creation of binding international sanctions regimes by the Security Council targeting ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and the Taliban. The UN has also served as a critical forum for information sharing, the provision of technical assistance, and other cooperative activities to support global counterterrorism efforts. Provided below is a selection of recent actions taken by the UN on this issue. Multilateral Sanctions: For more than 15 years, the UN Security Council has had in place robust, legally-binding sanctions—including asset freezes, travel bans, and arms embargoes—targeting individuals, groups, and entities associated with al-Qaeda. In an effort to strengthen these measures, in December 2015, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew chaired a special meeting of the Council to discuss ways to improve international efforts to curtail various revenue-generating activities—including oil smuggling, kidnapping for ransom, human trafficking, and trade in stolen antiquities—undertaken by
ISIS. This unprecedented session—the first-ever meeting of the Security Council at which member states were represented by their finance ministers—resulted in the unanimous adoption of a resolution requiring UN member states to: criminalize all financial transactions related to terrorism; improve communication and information-sharing between government agencies on terrorist financing; enhance engagement with the private sector, particularly financial institutions, to better identify activities related to terrorist financing; report to the Council within 120 days describing what steps they are taking to prevent ISIS, al-Qaeda, and related groups from making money, including through interdictions of oil sales. Security Council Resolution on Foreign Terrorist Fighters: The rise of ISIS and other extremist groups in Iraq and Syria has pushed the issue of foreign fighters—and how to suppress the recruitment and travel of these individuals to conflict zones—to the forefront of global policy debates. In late September 2014, President Obama chaired a Security Council meeting to discuss this issue. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Council unanimously adopted a legally-binding resolution—strongly supported by the U.S.—compelling all countries to put in place domestic laws to prosecute those who travel abroad to join terrorist organizations and those who help them, including by raising funds. Counterterrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED): In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1373, requiring countries to criminalize terrorism financing, freeze funds related to persons involved in terrorist acts, and cooperate with other governments to arrest, prosecute, and extradite terrorism suspects. The resolution also established a Counterterrorism Committee, made up of all 15 members of the Security Council, to help UN member states implement the terms of the resolution. As part of these efforts, the Committee and its Executive Directorate (CTED) have facilitated technical assistance to more than 60 countries to help address terrorism financing, border and customs controls, arms trafficking, transportation security, and a number of other issues. Following up on the Security Council’s resolution on foreign fighters, the CTED is helping member states, other UN agencies, and aligned organizations such as NATO confront the challenges posed by the influx of foreign fighters to places like Syria and Iraq.
quick factS For more than 15 years, the UN Security Council has had in place robust, legally-binding sanctions— including asset freezes, travel bans, and arms embargoes—targeting individuals, groups, and entities associated with al-Qaeda. The Committee and its Executive Directorate (CTED) have facilitated technical assistance to more than 60 countries to help address terrorism financing, border and customs controls, arms trafficking, and transportation security.
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Supporting Global Non-proliferation Efforts The UN is a key platform for countries to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The General Assembly, Security Council, and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) all provide venues for countries to share resources and information, create frameworks for addressing breaches of international agreements, and build unified fronts against rogue states. As a result, the UN is a critical asset to American nuclear non-proliferation efforts, helping ensure these dangerous weapons do not fall into the wrong hands.
The UN’s Core Nuclear Non-Proliferation Mechanisms • Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT): The NPT commits states to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technologies while at the same time working towards nuclear disarmament. All but four countries are parties to this treaty. • International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA): The IAEA verifies member state compliance with the NPT and other non-proliferation agreements by monitoring and inspecting nuclear facilities and material in more than 140 countries to ensure their peaceful use. These activities can help provide the international community with advanced warning of and trigger a global response to the existence of an illicit nuclear weapons program, including providing a basis for action by the Security Council. • Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT): The CTBT, ratified by 157 UN member states, obliges parties not to detonate nuclear weapons or support those who do. The United States has signed but not ratified the CTBT.
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UN Action in Iran The UN has played a crucial role in U.S.-led efforts to isolate Iran and sharpen the choices of its leadership over its controversial nuclear program. In 2010, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1929, creating the toughest multilateral sanctions ever faced by the Iranian government. This action set the stage for stronger bilateral sanctions by the U.S., EU, Australia, Canada, South Korea, Japan and other countries – the impact of which deeply affected the Iranian economy and helped push the country to the negotiating table. In fact, former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the multilateral and bilateral sanctions caused “the heaviest economic onslaught on our nation in history.” After several years of diplomatic pressure, the P5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany) and Iran struck an agreement on July 14, 2015 to constrain Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for phased-in sanctions relief. The agreement (known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA) imposed restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program, including requiring Iran to ship 97% of its enriched uranium out of the country; dismantle and remove two-thirds of its centrifuges; and
remove the core of its Arak heavy water reactor and fill it with cement. The agreement also empowered the IAEA to inspect and verify Iranian compliance, allowing international monitors unprecedented access to the country’s nuclear facilities and supply chain. Regardless of one’s view of the JCPOA, the IAEA will play an essential role in verification of the agreement. On January 16, 2016 – six months after the accord was first finalized – IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano confirmed that Iran had completed the necessary preparatory steps to begin the implementation of the JCPOA, paving the way for UN, EU, and U.S. sanctions to start lifting. Moving forward, the nuclear watchdog will be tasked with continually verifying Iran’s remaining nuclear work is conducted for purely peaceful purposes. In addition, while some sanctions have been rescinded – such as a restriction on Iranian crude oil sales – others will not take effect for many years. For example, sanctions banning conventional arms sales will not be lifted for five years and restrictions on ballistic missile sales will remain in place for eight years – each subject to IAEA verification that Iran is upholding its end of the agreement.
In order to maintain these continuous monitoring activities, the JCPOA Additional Protocol grants the IAEA complementary authority to inspect any site in the country – including Iranian military bases and high-tech factories – that it suspects may be conducting illicit nuclear activity. In addition, the IAEA is leveraging new technologies to enhance its on the ground capabilities. The nuclear watchdog recently installed a high-tech device known as an Online Enrichment Monitor (OLEM) at Iran’s Natanz facility to ensure uranium enrichment activities do not exceed agreed upon levels. The device enables 24/7 monitoring of the facility and, when paired with expanded traditional investigation mechanisms, allows the IAEA unprecedented oversight of Iran’s nuclear program. Throughout the life of the Iran deal – and beyond – the IAEA will be relied upon by the U.S. and its allies to independently monitor Iran’s nuclear activities and verify that the country is acting responsibly and transparently. As a result, American support for the IAEA, including the financial resources required to maintain these enhanced monitoring activities, will remain critical to international peace and security.
quick facts
In 2010, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1929, creating the toughest multilateral sanctions ever faced by the Iranian government. The IAEA recently installed a high-tech device known as an Online Enrichment Monitor (OLEM) at Iran’s Natanz facility to ensure uranium enrichment activities do not exceed agreed upon levels.
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DEVELOPMENT & HUMAN RIGHTS The Global Goals In September 2015, all 193 UN member states negotiated and unanimously approved a wide-ranging and ambitious set of goals for the world for the next 15 years. This new set of Global Goals build on the eight Millennium Development Goals that were established in 2000 and aimed to significantly reduce extreme poverty and disease. The eight goals catalyzed international support around these issues and helped: • Move 600 million people out of extreme poverty; • Avert 4.3 million deaths from malaria; • Improve access to drinking water for 2.3 billion people; • Achieve gender parity in primary education; • Cut maternal mortality in half.
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NO POVERTY
ZERO HUNGER
AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY
DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
CLIMATE ACTION
LIFE BELOW WATER
GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
LIFE ON LAND
The framework for the Global Goals was formed after three years of consultation and input from every government and millions of their citizens. This is especially true in the United States, where 75,000 people across 50 cities engaged in the dialogue through our country consultation both online and on the ground. The U.S. played a major role in helping to shape the negotiations and played a vital role in ensuring important U.S. priorities remained a part of the final document. The creation of the Global Goals marks a significant milestone as the UN and its member states seek to improve the lives of people around the world. The 17 goals encompass the best thinking about how development priorities can be achieved. It is well understood that we cannot end extreme poverty if we do not focus on governance and peace and security because half of all people living in extreme poverty are in conflict affected states. It is also understood that we cannot end extreme poverty without focusing on access to jobs and rewarding entrepreneurship, tackling global health challenges that strain government’s budgets and sap productivity, strengthening educational systems, or enhancing infrastructure and achieving more livable cities.
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QUALITY EDUCATION
REDUCED INEQUALITIES
PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS
GENDER EQUALITY
CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION
SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES
RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION
PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE GOALS
The 17 Global Goals take account of these and other priorities. It was also recognized that the goals wouldn’t be achieved without the help of the private sector, faith-based organizations, foundations, non-governmental organizations, and all governments. The business community was approached early on in the negotiations to see how they could be a part of the solution to ending extreme poverty. Many of the largest and smallest businesses from around the world have made commitments to helping achieve the Global Goals, because they see it as good business to help expand markets and create a better environment for everyone to succeed. Like the Millennium Development Goals that preceded them, the Global Goals are not legally-binding. Nevertheless, they do mirror much of what the U.S. is already doing on development and diplomacy around the world. By engaging throughout the negotiations, the U.S. was able to get long bipartisan priorities into the final goals. Targets and goals like ending deaths from malaria, targeting human trafficking, and gender empowerment have long been prioritized by Congress and past administrations.
Financing Development Prior to the finalization of the Global Goals, the UN organized a conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to discuss how to finance the international community’s development objectives. With many countries around the world currently facing budgetary constraints, stakeholders recognized that we cannot rely on Overseas Development Assistance alone in tackling the problem of extreme poverty. The Addis Ababa conference focused on how we can accelerate domestic resource mobilization to achieve a better life for all citizens without an over reliance on contributions from donor countries like the U.S. The conference also examined how governments can increase transparency and efficiency and how the business sector can make a difference in development through their current and new investments. The Global Goals will increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the U.S. Government’s own investments in development by leveraging funds from many different actors to achieve our development and diplomacy objectives.
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Human Rights Council The UN Human Rights Council is an intergovernmental body made up of 47 member states responsible for promoting and protecting human rights around the world. Established by the UN General Assembly in June 2006, the Human Rights Council replaced an earlier UN human rights body which had been criticized as ineffective and politicized. Initially, the United States declined to run for a seat on the new body. As a direct result, the Council struggled to fulfill its mandate. In 2009, however, the U.S. changed course, successfully running for a seat on the Council with the goal of changing the body’s dynamics. In 2012, following an exceptionally active first term, the U.S. ran for and was overwhelmingly elected to a second three-year term by the General Assembly. Two consecutive terms of U.S. membership on the Council have produced tangible, positive outcomes on a number of core American foreign policy objectives.
Investigating Grave Human Rights Violations North Korea: The Council, with U.S. support, established a Commission of Inquiry (COI) to investigate human rights violations in North Korea. In February 2014, the Commission released a detailed report— unprecedented in scope—implicating the North Korean regime in a wide range of crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, rape, enslavement, and forced abortions. As a result, the human rights situation in North Korea was added to the official agenda of the UN Security Council, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) established a field office in Seoul to track human rights violations in North Korea. According to Human Rights Watch, “[The UN Office] is something that Kim Jong Un should be staying awake at night thinking about, because he is going to be facing a determined team of professional investigators looking and speaking to people to find out the abuses that are taking place against them.” Burundi: In December 2015, the U.S. organized and led an emergency Council special session on the human rights situation in Burundi. The special session resulted in a consensus resolution supporting an investigation of human rights abuses in the country.
Syria: The Council established a Commission of Inquiry on the human rights situation in Syria, which has helped gather evidence against specific individuals for their involvement in crimes against humanity. In 2015 the COI moved to share its findings, including a “perpetrators list” with international judicial bodies, a key step towards accountability. This list includes the heads of Syrian government detention facilities and intelligence branches involved in torture, military commanders and leaders of armed groups who target civilians, and officials overseeing airports from where barrel bomb attacks are launched, among other alleged human rights violators. Iran: The U.S. worked with other Council members to establish a UN “special rapporteur” to scrutinize the human rights situation in Iran. These investigators have unique international legitimacy and a March 2015 report concluded that a variety of Iranian laws undermine the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, while individuals contin-
quick factS In December 2015, the U.S. organized and led an emergency Council special session on the human rights situation in Burundi. The special session resulted in a consensus resolution supporting an investigation of human rights abuses in the country. In September 2014, the UN Human Rights Council convened a special session focused on human rights violations and alleged atrocities committed by ISIS. In a unanimous resolution, Council members, including the U.S., voted to dispatch an investigation focused on ISIS’s rights abuses.
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ue to suffer torture and other forms of inhumane treatment. The report also documented an enormous rise in executions with 753 occurring in 2014 alone, including 33 carried out in public.
made clear that LGBT rights were not just Western notions but had the unrivaled legitimacy of a world body.
ISIS: In September 2014, the UN Human Rights Council convened a special session focused on human rights violations and alleged atrocities committed by ISIS. In a unanimous resolution, Council members, including the U.S., voted to dispatch an investigation focused on ISIS’s rights abuses.
Improved Treatment of Israel
Historic Action on LGBT Rights With U.S. leadership, the UN Human Rights Council passed two historic resolutions on combatting discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity in 2011 and 2014. Both created mandates for unprecedented global-level reporting on international human rights challenges facing LGBTI individuals, including extrajudicial killings, brutalization, and criminalization of consensual same-sex relationships. These two landmark UN actions
Council membership has aided U.S. efforts to normalize Israel’s treatment at the UN. While there is still an inordinate amount of focus on Israel in some parts of the UN system, both the proportion of Israel-specific resolutions and special sessions in the Council have significantly declined since the U.S. joined the Council as member. With U.S. backing, Israel also officially joined a key UN regional group in 2014, providing a new platform for Israel to pursue its interests while collaborating with relevant partners at the Council. Participation in these regional coordinating groups matter because they are where much of the behind-the-scenes work at the UN gets done. Equally important, Israeli participation allows it to apply for membership in the Security Council, which it plans to do in 2019.
With U.S. leadership, the U.S. Human Rights Council passed two historic resolutions on combatting discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity in 2011 and 2014.
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U.S. DUES & CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE UN Since the UN’s founding in 1945, the United States has been the organization’s largest funder. As a permanent member of the Security Council and host of UN Headquarters, the U.S. holds a significant amount of clout at the UN, and its leadership in providing financial support to the organization is a reflection of that influential role. Continued U.S. funding is essential to a number of UN activities that promote core U.S. interests and values, from peacekeeping missions and global non-proliferation efforts, to the provision of humanitarian and development assistance to some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.
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Funding from member states for the UN and its affiliated programs and specialized agencies comes from two main sources: assessed dues and voluntary contributions. • Assessed dues are payments that all UN member states, including the U.S., are obligated to make by virtue of their membership in the organization. These assessments provide a reliable source of funding to core functions of the UN Secretariat via the UN regular and peacekeeping budgets. In addition, each of the UN’s specialized agencies have their own assessed budgets that member states are obligated to help finance as well. • Voluntary contributions are not obligatory, but instead left to the discretion of individual member states. These contributions are vital to the work of the UN’s humanitarian and development agencies, including the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Program (WFP), UN Development Program (UNDP), and UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
Assessments for the Regular Budget and UN Specialized Agencies The UN regular budget finances the UN’s core bodies and activities, including political missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Libya that are directly in our national interests and working to promote stability in key regions of the world. The current assessment structure for the regular budget sets maximum (22%) and minimum (.001%) rates for all UN member states, which are primarily determined by gross national income (GNI) and GNI per capita. Since the U.S. has some of the highest of both wealth measures, its rate is larger than those of other member states. Over time though, the U.S. has negotiated several reductions in this rate. In fact, in 2000, the United States was able to secure an agreement that capped contributions at 22%. The United States is the only country with a capped rate, all other countries are subject to the assessment rate formula. If no ceiling existed for the United States and Regular Budget contributions were solely determined by gross national income, the U.S. would pay a significantly larger portion of the Regular Budget. The U.S. contribution to the UN regular budget is appropriated under the State Department’s “Contributions to International Organizations” (CIO) account. In addition to the regular budget, CIO covers U.S. dues payments to more than 40 other UN and non-UN international organizations, including NATO, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the World Health Organization.
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Assessments for the UN Peacekeeping Budget UN peacekeeping missions are funded through assessments on member states similar to those made for the regular budget, but with greater discounts for poorer nations. The resulting funding deficit is compensated for by the five permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council—the U.S., UK, France, Russia, and China. Under this formula, the U.S. will be assessed 28.57% of the total peacekeeping budget in 2016—a level the U.S. negotiated and voted for in the UN General Assembly late last year. For the past several years, however, the U.S. has only paid 27.14% of the cost of each mission, in line with the U.S. peacekeeping rate effective in 2012. If left unchanged by Congress, this situation could cause shortfalls in U.S. funding for UN peacekeeping this year. U.S. contributions to UN peacekeeping operations are appropriated under the State Department’s “Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities” (CIPA) account. Since each of the P5 have veto power over Security Council decisions, no UN peacekeeping mission can be deployed, withdrawn, or expanded without U.S. support. While this unique responsibility for establishing and renewing UN peacekeeping operations means the U.S. pays a greater portion of the bill, the vast majority of personnel deployed on these missions come from less developed countries, including Bangladesh, Jordan, Ghana, and Nepal. Currently, a historic number of personnel—nearly 125,000 soldiers, police, and civilians in all—are serving on 16 UN peacekeeping missions around the world. The U.S., under both Republican and Democratic Presidents, has actively used its position on the Security Council to push for an increase in the deployment UN peacekeepers over the last two decades.
Fiscal Year 2017 Funding for Our Regular Budget and Peacekeeping Dues For the better part of a decade, the U.S. has maintained a good financial standing at the UN by honoring its financial obligations to the organization. This is critical, given the growing role the UN is being asked to take on a variety of global challenges, particularly in terms of peacekeeping. Provided below is a table summarizing recent and requested future funding levels for UN peacekeeping operations and the CIO account.
ACCOUNT
FY’15 Actual
FY’16 Estimate
FY’17 President’s Request
FY’17 BWC Recommendation
CIPA
$2.118 billion
$2.46 billion
$2.394 billion
$2.445 billion
CIO
$1.496 billion
$1.446 billion
$1.387 billion
$1.387 billion
CIO: UN Regular Budget
$620.3 million
$630.9 million
$593.2 million
$593.2 million
Peacekeeping Operations (PKO)
$473.7 million
$600.6 million*
$475.4 million
$475.4 million
Mechanism for Peace Operations Response (MPOR)
$0
$0
$150 million
$150 million
*This figure includes funding for the U.S. assessment for UN logistics and equipment support to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Typically, funding for this program is requested under CIPA by the Administration, but Congress usually appropriates it under the separate PKO account. Both the President’s FY’17 budget request and BWC’s FY’17 recommendation include funding for the UN’s AMISOM support package under CIPA.
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UN Strengthening & Reform In order to meet the challenges of the 21st century and to ensure member state resources are used most effectively, the United Nations continues to update its operations and management practices. Changes have taken place in nearly every area of UN operations, from the management of peacekeeping missions, to tougher ethics rules, to streamlined budget processes, to delivery of humanitarian aid on the ground. However, reform takes concerted engagement by all member states, and positive U.S. leadership will be essential to continuing the reform agenda in 2016. The following is a selection of completed and ongoing UN reform efforts.
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Practicing Budgetary Restraint In December 2015, the General Assembly approved the UN’s regular budget—which covers the organization’s core activities and expenses, including political missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya—for the 2016-2017 biennium. Overall, the budget for that two-year period came in at $5.4 billion, roughly 2% less than the 2014-2015 regular budget approved by the Assembly in December 2013, and around $400 million less than the final appropriation of $5.8 billion for those years. Among other provisions, the 2016-2017 budget eliminated 150 redundant staff posts and achieved a 5% reduction in expenses on supplies, travel, furniture, and other equipment. The General Assembly also reassessed the UN’s staff compensation package for the first time in 26 years, approving a unified base/ floor salary scale structure to replace the current separate scales for staff with and without dependents. This measure, which is meant to help slow rising staff costs, will take effect on July 1, 2016.
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Combating Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by Peacekeepers In recent months, the UN has been buffeted by a number of high-profile allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) committed by peacekeepers, most notably in the Central African Republic (CAR). In response to these cases, on September 17, 2015, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced a series of proposals to combat SEA in peacekeeping to a meeting of representatives from 124 troop-contributing countries. These initiatives, some of which are already being implemented, include: expanding UN vetting mechanisms currently in place for civilian personnel to cover troops and police who serve on peacekeeping missions; requiring the UN to conclude its own investigations into SEA allegations within six months; “naming and shaming� individual troop-contributing countries by publishing country-specific information on the number of credible allegations of SEA against uniformed personnel; establishing a trust fund to assist victims of SEA by peacekeepers; and suspending reimbursement payments to troops alleged to have committed SEA. The Secretary-General also stated that he would not hesitate to repatriate entire peacekeeping contingents when there are failures in command and control or evidence of widespread or systematic violations by troops from a particular country. As part of this policy, in early January 2016, the UN announced that 900 troops from DR Congo serving as part of the UN mission in CAR would be repatriated due to several allegations of rape against members of the contingent. In a statement following the decision, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said that the UN had sent an important signal about its seriousness in responding to sexual exploitation and abuse.
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Ensuring the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Peacekeeping Operations The last several years have witnessed the adoption and implementation of some important reforms and advancements in UN peacekeeping operations. For example, the UN has implemented the Global Field Support Strategy (GFSS), a five-year project (2010-2015) aimed at improving the efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and speed of administrative and logistics support to UN field missions. As a result of the UN’s implementation of GFSS, the cost per peacekeeper declined by 18% between 2008 and 2015. Moreover the number of support and security staff serving on UN peacekeeping missions declined by 3,000 over the same period, despite the fact that the number of uniformed personnel in the field has actually increased. In late 2014, Secretary-General Ban announced the creation of a High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO) to undertake a comprehensive review of the state of UN peace operations. This was an important development, given that today’s peacekeeping operations often involve significantly larger numbers of uniformed personnel than earlier missions, are increasingly deployed to areas of active conflict, and have much more complex mandates. In June 2015, the Panel released a final report containing more than 100 recommendations covering a wide swathe of issues relevant to UN peacekeeping operations, including the importance of preventative diplomacy, enhanced training and enabling capacities for peacekeepers, and improved assessment and accountability measures for troop-contributing countries. This effort has coincided with a similar push by the U.S. - it spearheaded the historic September Leadership Summit on peacekeeping during the UN General Assembly, when more than 50 countries pledged some 40,000 additional peacekeepers for possible deployment, as well as key force enablers such as helicopters and engineering and medical units.
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The cost per peacekeeper declined by 18% between 2008 and 2015.
Strengthening Transparency In the spirit of transparency, the UN now makes all internal audit reports issued by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) publicly available online. This development followed similar decisions by UNICEF, UNDP, and UNFPA. The U.S. Mission to the UN has called this commitment to transparency “a turning point in how the UN does business.�
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All Photographs are courtesy of
the United NAtions
The Better World Campaign (BWC) works to strengthen the relationship between the United States and the United Nations through outreach, communications, and advocacy. It encourages U.S. leadership to enhance the UN’s ability to carry out its invaluable international work on behalf of peace, progress, freedom, and justice. In these efforts, BWC engages policymakers, the media, and the American public to increase awareness of and support for the United Nations. For more information, visit www.BetterWorldCampaign.org.
The United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA), a program of the UN Foundation, is a membership organization dedicated to inform, inspire and mobilize the American people to support the principles and vital work of the United Nations. UNA-USA works to accomplish its mission through its national network of chapters, advocacy efforts, education programs, and public events. UNA-USA and BWC are the single largest network of advocates and supporters of the United Nations in the world. For more information, visit www.unausa.org.
Impact of the United Nations in 2016 Each year, the UN: Provides food to 90 million people in 80 countries
Vaccinates 58 percent of the world’s children
Assists over 55 million refugees and people fleeing war, famine or persecution Works with 193 countries to combat climate change and make development sustainable Keeps peace with 120,000 peacekeepers in 16 operations on 4 continents Fights poverty, helping improve the health and well-being of 420 million rural poor
Promotes maternal health, saving the lives of 30 million women
And through all of the good that the UN does, it is a resoundingly good bargain for the U.S.:
0.1% Funding for our UN dues amounts to about 0.1% of the total federal budget
500,000,0000 The UN brings more than half a billion dollar in revenue to U.S. businesses
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