U.S. Again Snubs UN On Debt
by Farhan Haq
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by Farhan Haq |
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(IPS) UNITED NATIONS --
Secretary
General Kofi Annan led widespread dismay at UN headquarters on Oct. 16 over the failure of the U.S. budget to provide money to pay off $1.5 billion in arrears owed to the world body.
Speaking to the conservative organization "Empower America" in Washington Annan sharply criticized the U.S. government for failing to pay anything more than a token amount to preserve its voting rights at the United nations. "It appears that the United States will squeak by, paying just enough to avoid losing its vote in the General Assembly, which happens to nations who fall two years behind in their contributions," Annan noted. That fate appeared to have been averted through the budget agreement announced October 15 between President Clinton and the Republican-led Congress that would provide money to an account covering contributions to international organization. No precise amount was announced, but sources here and in Washington believed more than a quarter of $1 million would be needed. "While the United States will avoid this fate (of losing its Assembly vote) for this year, on the larger question -- its legal commitment and its moral obligation to the United Nations and the 184 other member states -- the United States will have failed," Annan declared. The secretary general gently chided his audience by noting that "conservatives believe in the sanctity of treaties and contracts." "Great nations keep their word," he added. "They do not inflict wounds on their own prestige or undermine their claim to leadership at crucial moments in world affairs." Washington's failure to pay its arrears, while expected for many months by officials here, nevertheless was a blow to the world body, which depends on the United States for one-quarter of its billion-dollar budget for regular operating costs.
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Last
week, UN Under Secretary General Joseph Connor warned that the shortfall in U.S. dues would compel the world body to borrow from its peacekeeping budget, and avoid paying nations who contribute UN troops, for at least the next several months. UN officials had been optimistic right up to last week that agreement could be reached between the White House and Congress over previous efforts to secure at least $475 million of the arrears as a "down payment."
Officials had hoped Republicans might drop language drafted by conservatives in Congress that attached abortion restrictions on U.S. aid to family planning programs worldwide to any repayment of the arrears. According to several sources, a compromise deleting the abortion restrictions -- which would have avoided a Clinton veto against the attached UN dues payment -- was scuttled after objections by strongly anti-abortion Republicans. Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey has repeatedly added anti-abortion language to any bill on the arrears question which also blocked an earlier Clinton effort this year to pay more than $900 million of arrears. UN officials had hoped the embarrassment of losing the General Assembly vote would prompt Washington to clear its arrears ledger, which has been building up ever since former President Ronald Reagan's 1981-89 administration refused to make several dues payments to protest UN policies. The Assembly vote is lost automatically under Article 19 of the UN Charter any time a nation's arrears equal two years' worth of its dues assessment. But now that Clinton can draw on a small account for international organizations, all sides believe Washington will pay around a quarter of $1 million before the end of the year and maintain its vote in the General Assembly. Some UN officials privately claim that the manoeuvre will only delay the loss of the Assembly vote, and not avert it. If the Republicans keep their grip on both houses of the U.S. Congress following Nov. 3 elections, as several polls indicate, they will be even less likely to fund UN programs next year. At the same time, Clinton -- facing impeachment charges in the House of Representatives -- cannot be expected to push more strongly for the arrears payment next year. The Clinton administration also has lost the efforts over the past year of its former UN ambassador, Bill Richardson -- a tough Congressional negotiator -- to secure a dues compromise. Now, with Richardson having become Secretary of Energy and his likely successor, Richard Holbrooke, held up amid disputes on his financial disclosures, Clinton does not even have a UN ambassador to make the case for paying the dues in Congress. Under that scenario, some UN officials contend, Washington could be in the position of facing the loss of its General Assembly vote when it considers its next budget a year from now. But Annan tried to be upbeat, arguing, "I can only hope that when Congress reconvenes we can get this issue behind us."
Albion Monitor October 20, 1998 (http://www.monitor.net/monitor)
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