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US President Donald Trump has ordered the country’s withdrawal from 66 global organisations, which the White House says operate contr+ary to America’s national interests.
Of the 66 organisations, 31 are United Nations (UN) entities while 35 are non-UN affiliated.
The presidential declaration was signed on Wednesday, following a review directed at the State Department earlier this year of all international intergovernmental organisations, conventions, and treaties that the US is a party to.
Trump directed all executive departments and agencies to take immediate steps to effect the country’s withdrawal from the organisations as soon as possible.
Notable among the organisations are the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
UNFPA promotes access to family planning, maternal healthcare, and efforts to end gender-based violence and harmful practices like child marriage.
Historically, the US provided substantial funding to UNFPA for programmes in over 150 countries.
UNFCCC addresses global climate efforts and coordinates international action on climate change through annual COP meetings and agreements like the Paris Accord. Trump has repeatedly labelled climate change a “scam”.
In a separate press statement, Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, said the Trump administration found these institutions to be “redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas”.
“The days of billions of dollars in taxpayer money flowing to foreign interests at the expense of our people are over,” Rubio said.
Upon returning to office last January, Trump initiated the withdrawal of the US from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Paris Climate Agreement.
Weeks later, he signed an executive order withdrawing the US from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and prohibiting any future funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for the Near East (UNRWA).
