Budget for International Orgs & Peacekeeping

Statement on the President's Fiscal Year 2008 Budget for International Organizations and Peacekeeping

Kristen Silverberg, Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs
Statement before the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
Washington, DC
March 27, 2007

(As prepared statement)

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, Ranking Member Wolf, and Members of the Subcommittee. I appreciate the opportunity to be here today to discuss the President's Fiscal Year 2008 budget for international organizations and peacekeeping.

I ask that my full statement be submitted for the record.

Madam Chairwoman, the President has requested $1.107 billion for the Contributions to International Peacekeeping Activities (CIPA) account, $1.354 billion for the Contributions to International Organizations (CIO) account, and $289 million for the International Organizations and Programs (IO&P) account.

Our CIPA request for FY08 is $1.107 billion for payments of United States' assessed contributions for UN peacekeeping operations. The President's FY08 budget also requests legislative language to lift the 25% rate cap on U.S. peacekeeping assessments in order to be consistent with the rates assessed by the UN during calendar years 2005 through 2008. We thank Congress for including in the FY07 Continuing Resolution the President's full CIPA request of $1.135 billion.

The CIO request will pay U.S. assessed contributions, following in most cases from U.S. ratification of an international treaty or convention, to the United Nations and 44 other international organizations, including the International Atomic Energy Agency, World Health Organization, Organization of American States, North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the World Trade Organization.

Finally, our request for IO&P will provide U.S. contributions to over 20 voluntarily funded organizations and programs. This includes large UN organizations such as UNICEF and UNDP, and smaller funds and programs such as the UN Environmental Program (UNEP).

All of the funds in the President's FY08 request will support the Department's efforts to advance peace and security, help spread freedom and democracy, provide humanitarian assistance, invest in education and health, and promote global economic growth through support for trade, free markets and development.

Advancing Peace and Security

Before I take questions, let me say a word about the role the United Nations is playing in helping to promote peace and security. Just this last week, we negotiated, in the Security Council, a second unanimous sanctions resolution on Iran. This resolution builds on the elements of Resolution 1737, adopted in December 2006, which was a significant milestone following two years of diplomacy with our P5+1 partners and represented a turning point in the resolve of the international community to increase the pressure on Iran to change course and end its pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability.

In addition to reaffirming the requirements set out in UNSCR 1737, the new resolution: establishes additional travel restrictions for persons involved in Tehran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs; expands the number of individuals and organizations subject to Resolution 1737's travel restrictions and assets freeze; imposes a ban on arms exports from Iran; calls upon countries to exercise restraint in transferring certain types of arms to Iran; and encourages countries and international financial institutions to halt new financial assistance agreements and loans with the Iranian government. All of these measures are carefully targeted to isolate the Iranian regime and make it clear that Iran will face increasing costs for its continued defiance.

While we are acting to isolate the Iranian government in the UN Security Council through sanctions, we are also offering to it a diplomatic way forward by seeking engagement with Iran. Following the adoption of the resolution last week, the United States, with our P5+1 partners, again reaffirmed our wish to negotiate and stressed that the proposals we presented to Iran in June 2006, which include cooperation with Iran on civil nuclear energy, legally-binding guarantees on the supply of nuclear fuel, and wider political security and economic cooperation, remain on the table. We strongly hope the Iranian regime will reflect on its isolation and decide to meet us at the negotiating table.

As the Secretary announced last May, the United States will join our P5+1 colleagues in direct discussions with Iran regarding nuclear and other issues "at any place and at any time," provided Iran verifiably suspends its enrichment-related and reprocessing activities. This avenue represents the best opportunity for Iran and the United States to begin resolving our differences.

We also worked to adopt sanctions on North Korea, which helped to spur progress in the Six-Party Talks. And we worked in the Council last summer to pass UNSCR 1701, which helped to end the crisis in Lebanon.

We work actively through the Council on UN peacekeeping missions. Demand for UN peacekeeping has grown substantially in recent years; there are now approximately 80,000 troops and police deployed in 16 UN peacekeeping missions. Increasingly, the mandates for peacekeeping missions involve post-conflict peace building through work on elections, rule of law, human rights, disarmament, and security sector reform. In the last year we have seen UN peacekeeping missions contribute significantly to peace in key trouble spots.

* The quick deployment of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon (UNIFIL) helped bring an end to Hizballah's hostilities against Israel last summer.

* The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) facilitated the establishment of a new legitimate government in Liberia under Africa's first elected female head-of-state. Speaking before Congress last year, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf thanked Congress for its leadership, which paved the way "for a United Nations force that secured our peace and guaranteed free and fair elections."

* The UN Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) established the security conditions leading to the February election of a fully legitimate government under President Preval. Since that time MINUSTAH, working with the Haitian National Police, has made significant progress in improving security conditions in Haiti.

At the same time, there are also very serious challenges to the UN's ability to provide peace and security, most disturbingly in Darfur. Although UN Security Council Resolution 1706 called for a transition from an African Union to a robust UN peacekeeping force in Darfur with the authority to use force to protect civilians, the hostility of the Sudanese regime has created obstacles to its deployment, allowing the suffering in Darfur to continue.

Helping Nations Govern Justly and Democratically

The United States' work in international organizations also helps to support democracy, protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, and promote respect for the dignity of all human beings.

* We worked through the General Assembly and the Security Council to condemn human rights abuses in Belarus, Burma, Iran and North Korea.

* We worked to pass a resolution condemning Holocaust denial and demanding that governments, like Iran, withdraw their support for such outrageously false assertions.

* The UN Democracy Fund, a U.S. initiative, disbursed its first round of grants this year worth $36 million to 125 projects. The Democracy Fund provides tangible support for democracy-related projects implemented by civil society organizations in 100 countries around the world. It serves as a focal point of our democratization efforts within the UN and as a counterweight to the authoritarian forces striving to gain ascendancy in the organization.

Providing Humanitarian Assistance

Our request also recognizes the critical role that international organizations play in our efforts to feed the hungry, prevent and mitigate disasters, and provide other types of humanitarian assistance.

* With U.S. support, the Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is working to strengthen its ability to assure adequate, predictable, and timely responses to new and existing emergencies.

* The World Food Program (WFP) provides food to over two hundred-twenty thousand displaced people in Darfur every month. And, after a devastating earthquake in Pakistan and Kashmir in 2005, WFP reached approximately one million survivors and guaranteed winter food supplies for hundreds of thousands in remote mountain communities. We are particularly pleased by our successful campaign to have Ambassador Josette Sheeran selected as the new WFP Executive Director beginning this year.

Investing in People

International organizations support our efforts to invest in people by reducing the spread of disease and promoting education.

* The World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are at the forefront of efforts to combat the current H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

* The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) provides nearly 40% of children's vaccines around the world. UNICEF often uses the opportunity of immunization drives to deliver other life-saving measures such as Vitamin A supplements and insecticide-treated mosquito nets that guard against malaria.

* At the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), successful programs such as teacher training initiatives have increased literacy and basic education in 46 countries.

Promoting Global Economic Growth

Finally, international organizations encourage global economic growth by supporting our efforts to promote free markets, transparency and anti-corruption measures.

* The World Trade Organization's work to liberalize trade and settle trade disputes, and the International Labor Organization's programs on small business and entrepreneurship also support our economic growth objectives by enabling developing countries to benefit from wider markets and by helping them create indigenous private sectors that can leverage the opportunities that such trade creates.

* This year's budget includes a request to complement U.S. contributions to the UNDP and other development activities with a $10 million founding donation to the UN Initiative for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (UNIIE).

* UNIIE will employ technical assistance grants to encourage UN agencies, developing countries, business groups and NGOs to create positive entrepreneurial environments by advocating simplified property registration, liberalized access to credit, better enforcement of contracts, reformed labor markets, and easier business licensing.

UN Reform

Although we see many opportunities to pursue U.S. objectives effectively through international organizations, there is still work to do to ensure these organizations use valuable Member State resources effectively and transparently. We are pleased that the new UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has demonstrated a clear commitment to holding the UN to the highest ethical standards. He has led by example by releasing his own financial disclosure forms. He responded quickly to revelations of UNDP mismanagement of its programs in North Korea, ordering an external audit of UNDP programs there.

The UN has now established an Ethics Office, which has launched a mandatory ethics-training program and put in place procedures for administering its whistleblower protection policy and a financial disclosure program. The UN has taken steps to address scandalous incidents of sexual exploitation and abuse in UN peacekeeping missions.

Overall, however, we are very disappointed that there has not been greater progress on UN reform. For example, the General Assembly has postponed taking action on two U.S. priorities – establishing an independent audit advisory committee and strengthening the authority and operational independence of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). We will continue to make the case with other member states that a more ethical, effective, transparent and accountable United Nations will be better equipped and better able to advance the shared goals of the international community.

Madam Chairwoman Lowey, Ranking Member Wolf, Members of the Committee, thank you for your attention. I look forward to answering your questions.

Released on March 28, 2007

ENDS

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