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UN Human Rights Council. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

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UN Human Rights Council

UN Human Rights Council.

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1738723832107UNRWA.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="UN Human Rights Council. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">UN Human Rights Council. <em>UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré</em></span></span></span></div><p>WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order withdrawing Washington from a number of United Nations bodies, including its Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and setting up a broader review of US funding for the multilateral organization.</p><p>The executive order said it withdrew Washington from UNHRC and the main UN relief agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), and would review involvement in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/11/8/united-nations-braces-for-donald-trump-s-return-2251" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">United Nations braces for Donald Trump&#x27;s return</a></div><p>The moves were made in protest against what White House staff secretary Will Scharf described as &quot;anti-American bias&quot; at the UN agencies.</p><p>The 47 members of the UN Human Rights Council are elected by the General Assembly to three-year terms, with the United States ending its latest term on December 31. It currently has observer status at the body.</p><p>Tuesday&#x27;s order would appear to end all US participation in the council&#x27;s activities, which include reviews of countries&#x27; human rights records and specific allegations of rights abuses.</p><p>&quot;More generally, the executive order calls for review of American involvement and funding in the UN in light of the wild disparities and levels of funding among different countries,&quot; said Scharf.</p><p>Trump highlighted the &quot;tremendous potential&quot; of the UN but said it is &quot;not being well run.&quot;</p><p>&quot;It should be funded by everybody, but we&#x27;re disproportionate, as we always seem to be,&quot; he said.</p><p>Trump has long railed against Washington&#x27;s levels of funding of multilateral bodies, calling for other countries to increase their contributions, notably at military alliance NATO.</p><p>UNRWA is the chief aid agency for Palestinians, with many of the 1.9 million people displaced by the war in Gaza dependent on its deliveries for survival.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/10/29/unrwa-a-lifeline-for-palestinians-amid-decades-of-conflict-1032" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">UNRWA, a lifeline for Palestinians amid decades of conflict</a></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/11/4/israel-tells-un-it-is-cutting-ties-with-palestinian-aid-agency-2113" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Israel tells UN it is cutting ties with Palestinian aid agency</a></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/13/israeli-envoy-claims-unrwa-employing-hamas-militants-1724" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Israeli envoy claims UNRWA employing Hamas militants</a></div><div><br/></div><p>Under Trump, Washington has backed a move by Israel to ban the agency, after the US ally accused UNRWA of spreading hate material.</p><p>US funding of UNRWA was halted in January 2024 by the administration of then-president Joe Biden after Israel accused 12 of its employees of involvement in Hamas&#x27;s October 7, 2023, attack.</p><p>A series of probes found some &quot;neutrality related issues&quot; at UNRWA, but found no evidence for Israel&#x27;s chief allegations, and most other donors that had similarly suspended funding resumed their financial support.</p><p>Earlier in his latest term, Trump also withdrew from the Paris climate accord and began withdrawing from the World Health Organization, of which it is the largest donor.</p><p>Each of the withdrawals has been a repeat of the Republican billionaire&#x27;s first term in office, which ended in 2021.</p><p>bur-aha/st</p><div><em>© Agence France-Presse</em></div>

<p>US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order withdrawing Washington from a number of United Nations bodies, including its Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and setting up a broader review of US funding for the multilateral organization.</p>

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order withdrawing Washington from a number of United Nations bodies, including its Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and setting up a broader review of US funding for the multilateral organization.

Trump signs order withdrawing US from UN Human Rights Council, UNRWA

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Trump signs order withdrawing US from UN Human Rights Council, UNRWA

Agence France-Presse

Published February 05, 2025 10:50 AM PHT

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