US-POPULATION: Abortion Issue Snarls Payment of UN Dues

By Farhan Haq Reprint | | Print |

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 29 1997 (IPS) - A new flare-up over the possibility that U.N. agencies may provide abortion services in refugee camps has snarled efforts to recover the hundreds of millions of dollars owed to the world body by the United States.

U.S. President Bill Clinton this year managed to forge agreement with the Republican-controlled Congress to pay some 819 million dollars over the next three years as part of a package deal, conditional on several key U.N. reforms. But now that deal is in danger, as many ultra-conservative Republicans are crying foul over what they contend is a U.N. effort to provide abortion services for refugees.

The Republican protesters are led by Representative Chris Smith, a strong anti-abortion advocate who has objected to several new policy guidelines that are being considered by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and World Health Organisation (WHO).

“They are talking about putting abortion in every refugee camp around the world,” Smith said. “That is absolutely a consensus- breaker.”

He added that, if the U.N. agencies were ever to provide “abortion on demand” for refugees, he and other Republicans in Congress would block the payments in arrears scheduled for the next two fiscal years. (100 million dollars of the arrears are due to be paid in the current fiscal year which ends next month.)

“Don’t let the U.N. agenda be hijacked by those who would promote an abortion agenda,” Smith argued.

His words cast a shadow over the meeting Monday between several key Congressional officials – including Representative Benjamin Gilman of New York, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee – and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Many Republican and Democratic officials lauded Annan’s plans to reform the United Nations and pleaded for cooperation to end the arrears problem, in which the United States has come to owe some 1.5 billion dollars to the United Nations.

“We had a good meeting with the secretary-general,” Gilman said Monday. “We are encouraged about the reforms that are being taken.” He noted that some U.S. suggestions already adopted by the United Nations, such as the appointment of an inspector- general, have been estimated to save the world body as much as 30 million dollars.

Bill Richardson, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, added that Washington is now prepared to do its part to meet the world body’s financial obligations. He noted that a Republican amendment to prevent the initial 100-million-dollar “down payment” was defeated last Friday by 246 votes against to 168 in favour in the House of Representatives.

“Support is slowly building for the United Nations in the U.S. Congress,” Richardson declared.”I believe we’re turning the corner.”

“Our obligation to pay our debts is an obligation,” argued Christopher Shays of Connecticut, a moderate Republican Representative who differs with Smith on the abortion issue. A large number of both the Republican majority and Democratic minority in Congress believe the dues should be paid, regardless of differences with the world body on a range of political issues, Shays added.

Nevertheless, Smith’s threat to block any arrears payment show how far Washington still has to go to convince its recalcitrant Congress to pay the dues, which are a treaty obligation, without conditions. In the past week, dozens of foreign ministers attending the U.N. General Assembly criticised the United States for failing to pay its contribution – one-quarter of the roughly 1.3 billion-dollar U.N. budget – on time, in full and unconditionally.

For many right-wing Republicans, however, the United Nations is an object of suspicion. Wile U.N. officials repeatedly have asserted the United Nations does not provide abortions anywhere in the world, the world body’s refusal to adopt the “pro- life” politics of the Christian right wing has often drawn the ire of politicians like Smith.

Richardson conceded that Smith’s objections threatened to block payment of dues and, so far, the Clinton administration has not broken the impasse. But he added that he was lobbying Congress to understand that “reform is taking place at the United Nations.”

“What we want is a vote up-and-down (yea or nay) on the arrears package as it is,” Richardson added, noting the White House’s worries that Republicans in Congress may seek to alter the agreement that was hammered out over the past few months. But the ambassador added that he was pleased that Republican leaders like Gilman and Shays were pushing for a payment of arrears.

Still, even if the right wing is appeased, there are many rocks ahead in the coming months. One of the conditions for the U.N. arrears payments is a long-standing demand by Washington to have its assessment for U.N. dues reduced from the current 25 percent to 20 percent.

Assessments have not been changed since 1974, and the United States believes that countries that have grown economically stronger since then – notably Germany, Japan and China – should pay more.

Richardson noted that the White House wants a vote in the U.N. General Assembly on reducing the U.S. assessment by December. The Clinton administration is committed under the arrears package to seek a reduction of dues to 22 percent this year and to 20 percent by the year 2000.

Those goals could be hard to meet. The other 184 U.N. member states largely resent the idea that Washington wants to dictate the terms of its dues payment, and many may accordingly vote against any reduction in the U.S. assessment. Nor does the idea that Congressmen like Smith are trying to attach new conditions make that effort any easier, U.N. officials acknowledge privately.