Latest news with #IsmailaDieng
Time of India
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Funding woes force UN to weigh massive overhaul
Geneva|United Nations: The United Nations is considering a massive overhaul that would merge major departments and shift resources across the globe, according to an internal memo prepared by senior officials tasked with reforming the world body. #Pahalgam Terrorist Attack Pakistan reopens Attari-Wagah border to allow stranded citizens in India to return Key Jammu & Kashmir reservoirs' flushing to begin soon Air India sees Pakistan airspace ban costing it $600 mn over 12 months The high-level review comes as UN agencies scramble to cope with the fallout from US foreign aid cuts under President Donald Trump that have gutted humanitarian agencies. The six-page document, marked "strictly confidential" and reviewed by Reuters, contains a list of what it terms "suggestions" that would consolidate dozens of UN agencies into four primary departments: peace and security, humanitarian affairs, sustainable development, and human rights. 5 5 Next Stay Playback speed 1x Normal Back 0.25x 0.5x 1x Normal 1.5x 2x 5 5 / Skip Ads by by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Play War Thunder now for free War Thunder Play Now Undo Under one option, for example, operational aspects of the World Food Programme, the UN children's agency, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN refugee agency would be merged into a single humanitarian entity, it said. Consolidation of agencies The memo contains a range of suggestions, some large, some small, some speculative, which, if all adopted, would represent the most sweeping reforms in decades. It suggests merging the UN AIDS agency into the WHO, and reducing the need for up to six translators at meetings. Another suggestion proposes consolidating the World Trade Organization (WTO)-which is not a UN entity-with UN development agencies. Live Events WTO spokesperson Ismaila Dieng said the body "was established by a separate international agreement and operates independently". Global food prices up Meanwhile, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said global food commodity prices increased in April, driven by higher cereal, meat and dairy product prices that outweighed falls in sugar and vegetable oils. The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in a basket of internationally traded food commodities, averaged 128.3 points in April, up 1% versus the March estimate of 127.1 points.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US 'in arrears' at the WTO
The United States has not paid its 2024 dues to the World Trade Organization and is therefore now deemed to be in "arrears", the WTO's spokesman said Friday. "The chair of the committee on budget, finance, and administration informed members during the General Council meeting in February that the United States is currently in 'Category 1' arrears," Ismaila Dieng told AFP. The United States did not pay its contribution for 2024, he said. Washington has also not yet paid its dues for 2025, though contributions from the WTO's 166 members often do not come in until mid-year. Last year, the United States was due to pay around 23.2 million Swiss francs ($26.3 million) -- amounting to roughly 11 percent of the WTO's budget. Category 1 arrears -- the least serious of three levels -- consist of those that have not paid their contributions for at least one year, but for less than two years. The nine members currently in Category 1 arrears are Angola, Chile, Eswatini, Grenada, Haiti, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Uganda and the United States. WTO members in this category are not permitted to chair the Geneva-based global trade body's various bodies. They are also not permitted to receive WTO documentation and are subject to reports at meetings of the organisation's General Council, its highest-level decision-making body in Geneva. "Generally, arrears can impact the operational capacity of the WTO secretariat," said Dieng. "But the secretariat continues to manage its resources prudently and has plans in place to enable it to operate within the financial limitations imposed by any arrears." - Tariffs and Trump's order - On February 4, Trump signed an executive order sparking a 180-day review all international organisations which the US is involved in or funds, to determine whether they are contrary to US interests or could be reformed. A source close to the discussions at the WTO told AFP: "At the March 4 meeting, the US delegate indicated that the suspension of US contributions to the budgets of international organisations also affected the WTO." The findings of the reviews will be presented to Trump along with recommendations as to whether Washington should withdraw from such bodies. On March 7, back from meeting US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington, WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said "the indications I got is that they remain part of WTO". Since returning to office, Trump has launched a widening trade war against the United States' main partners by threatening to ratch up tariffs. Canada has launched two separate complaints at the WTO over Trump's tariff manoeuvres. However, continuing a practice initiated under president Barack Obama, Washington keeps paralysing the WTO's final mechanism for resolving trade disputes by blocking the appointment of judges to its Appellate Body. The United States put the block on for the 85th time on Monday. apo/rjm/gv
