| Amid USAID Cuts UN Security
Cuts Back Leaked Memo of Meeting
with Michaud Shows
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
UN GATE,
March 21 –
With the United Nations facing
budget cuts and its Secretary
General on a junket to
Bangladesh, the following from
inside the UN was leaked to
Inner City Press:
Dear Council
Members, The message
below, which was circulated to
you, reflects the outcome of
our meeting between the Staff
Federation and the USG-UNDSS,
Mr. Gilles Michaud. In
addition to the details
provided in the message, I
would like to take this
opportunity to summarize the
implications of the $30
million budget cut for
UNDSS:
Due to the recent
USAID funding cut to the UN,
approximately $30 million has
been removed from the
extra-budgetary (XB)
resources, resulting in a
significant reduction in
staffing.
As a consequence,
UNDSS will no longer have a
presence in approximately 35
to 45 countries, severely
impacting field
operations. In the
remaining 120 countries where
UNDSS will maintain a
presence, regional hubs will
be established. UN
agencies will need to
reconsider their operational
footprint in countries where
UNDSS will no longer be
present. In the short
term, approximately 100 UNDSS
staff members will be
affected, with more at risk if
the situation does not
improve. The USG
emphasized that UNDSS is not a
protection agency but a risk
management and analysis
entity.
This distinction
should be clearly communicated
to staff. I advocated
for our security colleagues in
the field, particularly those
in UNAMI who are facing
downsizing in the coming
months. However, I was
informed that there will be no
available positions to absorb
affected personnel. The USG
candidly stated that he cannot
justify bringing someone from
the field when he is already
forced to send his own staff
home. The UN is
currently experiencing its
worst liquidity crisis since
its establishment. The
situation is expected to
deteriorate further before any
improvement occurs.
I will
continue to follow up with DPO
and DOS regarding our position
papers and other matters
related to the future of
peacekeeping operations.
Please stay tuned
for further
updates.
Best regards, Milan
Victor Dawoh President-United
Nations Field Staff Union
Message sent on behalf of Mr.
Bill Blanchard,
DFO - full version
here
Inner City
Press will have more on this.
***
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