UNITED NATIONS: U.N. Peacekeepers Demand Payment For Services

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 11 1997 (IPS) - The country that provides the largest contingent of troops for U.N. peacekeeping operations is complaining that the United Nations is not paying its bills.

Pakistan says the outstanding debts to some 68 troop- contributing countries, totaling 1.2 billion dollars, have created an “alarming situation, threatening the continuation of existing U.N. peacekeeping operations.”

“The current financial crisis confronting the United Nations, particularly in the area of peacekeeping, continues to be of grave concern to a developing country like Pakistan,” Ambassador Ahmad Kamal told the U.N. Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations Friday.

As of Mar. 31, the United Nations was overseeing 14 peacekeeping operations with a total troop strength of 23,861, according to the latest statistics released here. Of this, the largest contingent is provided by Pakistan (1,725 troops), followed by Bangladesh (1,155), Russia (1,114), Jordan (1,101), and Poland (1,094).

The United Nations currently owes Pakistan some 45.2 million dollars — the largest debt to a Third World nation — for troops and equipment provided for peacekeeping operations.

The world body also owes 41.4 million dollars to India, 34.4 million dollars to Malaysia, 29.7 million dollars to Brazil, and 23.5 million dollars to Jordan.

The United Nations also owes monies to some of the world’s least developed countries (LDCs), the poorest of the poor, mostly from Africa. These include Malawi (81,000 thousand dollars), Zambia (4.6 million dollars), Congo (42,000 dollars), Ethiopia (185,000 dollars), Mali (46,000 dollars), and Niger (18,000 dollars).

Of the industrial countries, France is owed 187.4 million dollars, Britain 104 million dollars, the United States 95.4 million dollars, Germany 53.9 million dollars, and Belgium about 51.1 million dollars.

This cash crisis has been exacerbated by the non-payment of U.N. dues by a large number of the 185 member-states. U.N. Associate Spokesman Juan Carlos Brandt told reporters Thursday that the United Nations was still owed 2.7 billion dollars –about one billion dollars for the regular budget and the balance for peacekeeping.

Of the overall debt of 2.7 billion dollars, about 1.7 billion dollars is owed by a single country, the United States, which has been withholding its dues for political reasons.

Kamal told delegates that all countries must pay their assessed contributions “in full and on time, in accordance with the existing scale of assessments.”

“The deteriorating financial situation has continued to adversely effect the reimbursement of troop costs and the use of …equipment to participating countries,” he said.

Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari of Nigeria, chairman of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, said one of the major problems with peacekeeping had always been financing.

“One cannot over-emphasise the importance of adequate financial resources to the effectiveness of U.N. peacekeeping operations,” he said.

“It is unfortunate that there has been protracted delays in the reimbursement of troop contributors, including delays in processing of claims for troops and equipment provided by member- states to operations whose mandates have been completed,” he added.

At the ministerial meeting of the 113-member Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in New Delhi last week, Secretary-General Kofi Annan paid tribute to NAM countries for providing the largest number of troops to U.N. peacekeeping operations.

Ambassador Charivat Santaputra of Thailand told the committee Friday that NAM attaches great importance to the issue of reimbursement to troop-contributing countries “because contributions from developing countries are crucial to the success of peacekeeping operations.”

“NAM has reiterated the necessity of solving that issue, particularly for developing countries, for it is linked directly with decisions to send troops in future operations,” he added.

The United Nations warned last year that a lingering cash crisis and the snowballing debt to peacekeepers may put peacekeeping operations in jeopardy.

“It’s a situation with worrisome implications for the future willingness of member-states to assist in peacekeeping,” the United Nations said in its year-end assessment.

Former Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said last year that some countries had warned him they will not participate in future operations unless they are paid their dues.

“They keep asking: ‘When will I be paid.’ Or they say, ‘I am ready to withdraw my soldiers because I have not been paid for the past six months’.”