Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities

Description

U.S. contributions to United Nations (U.N.) peacekeeping activities help stabilize countries in conflict by protecting civilians from violence; facilitating humanitarian aid; disarming, demobilizing, and reintegrating former combatants; training local police forces; and supporting free and fair elections.

Use of Funds

The Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities (CIPA) account funds the U.S. share of assessed contributions for 12 current U.N. peacekeeping operations spanning three continents. The U.S.’s current assessment rate is 26.94% of the U.N. peacekeeping budget, though the U.S. currently only pays 25%.

An investment of $2.877 billion would allow the U.S. to pay its F.Y. 2024 peacekeeping assessments in full as well as cap related arrears accrued from F.Y. 2017 to F.Y. 2023.

Justification

• Peer-reviewed quantitative studies demonstrate that U.N. peacekeeping operations save lives, shorten the duration of conflicts, contain the geographic spread of war, and reduce sexual and gender-based violence.
• The U.N. Security Council, of which the United States is a veto-wielding permanent member, authorizes peacekeeping operations. As such, U.N. peacekeeping operations effectively must be approved by the U.S. to deploy, and American diplomats play a central role in crafting peacekeeping mandates.
• U.N. peacekeeping is an excellent example of global burden-sharing. The U.S. provides just over two and a half dozen uniformed personnel out of a total force of nearly 74,000, including from allies like Ghana, Tanzania, Jordan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
• Peacekeeping missions save American taxpayer money. A report by the Government Accountability Office found that a U.N. operation could cost American taxpayers one-eighth the cost of deploying a comparable U.S. force.