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US envoy targeting UN peacekeeping operations for reform

Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the United Nations (file photo)

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is planning a far-reaching review of UN peacekeeping operations, diplomats say.

During one-on-one meetings with Security Council ambassadors this week, Haley described cuts to peacekeeping operations as a priority, according to three diplomats with knowledge of the discussions.

"On UN reform, I think there is a particular interest in peacekeeping," a Security Council diplomat told AFP.

Haley plans to review all 16 peace operations which cost nearly $8 billion a year. She is "relatively skeptical" of the value and efficiency of many of the deployments, said the diplomat.

Another senior Security Council diplomat said that peacekeeping reform was "a priority" for Haley "who wants to work closely with key partners on the issue in the coming weeks."

Haley took up her post, promising to overhaul the UN and "do away" with what she called "obsolete" activities amid fresh clamor in the US over its funding for the world body.

“Do we need to shift and do things differently or do we need to pull out?” she asked in her Senate confirmation hearing last month.

"We have to start encouraging other countries to have skin in the game," she told senators on January 18.

The United States has few soldiers serving as peacekeepers, but it is by far the largest financial contributor to UN peacekeeping.

So far, no list has been officially prepared of missions which are to be axed, but diplomats said UN missions in Haiti and Liberia will probably receive a rapid shutdown.


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