Ziggy Ojiegbe

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed regret over the decision by the United States to withdraw from several United Nations entities, while stressing that the Organization will continue to carry out its humanitarian and development responsibilities.

Ad >>>

In a statement issued on Thursday, the UN Spokesperson said the Secretary-General reaffirmed that assessed contributions to the UN’s regular and peacekeeping budgets are legal obligations under the UN Charter.

“As we have consistently underscored, assessed contributions to the United Nations regular budget and peacekeeping budget, as approved by the General Assembly, are a legal obligation under the UN Charter for all Member States, including the United States,” the statement said.

The reaction follows a presidential memorandum issued by Washington on Wednesday night directing US executive departments and agencies to begin withdrawing from dozens of international organizations, conventions and treaties deemed inconsistent with US interests.

According to the memorandum, the decision affects 31 UN agencies and entities. These include the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which supports maternal and child health and works to combat sexual and gender-based violence; the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which coordinates global climate action; and the UN Democracy Fund, which supports civil society initiatives promoting democratic governance.

The withdrawal also applies to several offices of the UN Secretariat, including those focused on children in armed conflict and efforts to end sexual violence as a weapon of war. In addition, four of the UN’s five regional economic commissions—covering Africa, Asia-Pacific, Western Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean—are affected.

“For UN entities, withdrawal means ceasing participation in or funding to those entities to the extent permitted by law,” the memorandum stated.

Despite the move, the Secretary-General underscored that the UN system would continue to function and deliver on its mandates.

“All United Nations entities will go on with the implementation of their mandates as given by Member States,” the statement said.
“The United Nations has a responsibility to deliver for those who depend on us. We will continue to carry out our mandates with determination.”

Under the UN Charter, assessed contributions to the Organization’s regular and peacekeeping budgets are binding on all Member States once approved by the General Assembly.

For 2026, the General Assembly approved a regular budget of $3.45 billion, representing a significant reduction from previous years. The budget includes a 15 per cent cut in financial resources and nearly a 19 per cent reduction in staffing levels.

Responding specifically to the US decision to withdraw from the UNFCCC, the convention’s Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell, described the move as a setback for global climate cooperation.

“The United States was instrumental in creating the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, because they are both entirely in its national interests,” Stiell said in a separate statement.

He warned that stepping back from international climate leadership could have serious domestic consequences.

“This latest step back from global leadership, climate cooperation and science can only harm the US economy, jobs and living standards, as wildfires, floods, mega-storms and droughts get rapidly worse,” he said. “It is a colossal own goal which will leave the US less secure and less prosperous.”

Stiell added that the UNFCCC would continue its work and that the United States could rejoin in the future.

“The doors remain open for the US to re-enter, as it has done in the past with the Paris Agreement,” he said.