By René Wadlow
On January 7, 2026, the United States (U.S.) government announced that it was withdrawing from membership (and thus financial contribution) to 31 United Nations (UN) bodies and programs. According to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, these institutions and programs are “redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run and captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own.” He added, “Many of these bodies promote radical climate policies, global governance and ideological programs that conflict with U.S. sovereignty and economic strength.”
The U.S. withdrawal comes at a time when the UN as a whole (the 193 member States) is in the process of evaluating UN structures and programs (UN 80). The results of this evaluation should be presented later this year.
A good number of the programs from which the United States of America (USA) is withdrawing are based or have activities in Geneva, Switzerland. As an NGO representative to the UN in Geneva, I have interacted with many of these programs and the Secretariat members. At this time when there are real challenges in the world society, the withdrawal of the USA weakens the UN system as a whole. The representatives of Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) in consultative status will increase their activities so that the intellectual dynamics will not be weakened, but NGOs cannot fill the financial gap.
One of the bodies marked for withdrawal is the International Law Commission. A colleague from Egypt who taught international law at the University of Geneva was a leading member of the Commission and had a deep understanding of Middle East culture. Stronger respect for international law in the Middle East remains a real need.
Another institution is the Geneva-based International Trade Center where I had a good friend in the Secretariat. The Trade Center helped developing countries negotiate contracts with transnational corporations. These corporations usually have sophisticated lawyers to write contracts, not the case for many developing countries. Thus, the work of the Trade Center filled a real need.
The UN Institute for Training and Research has its headquarters in New York, but many of its activities were Geneva-based and so the Secretariat cooperated with Geneva-based NGOs. The same holds true for the UN University with headquarters in Japan but with many Geneva-based activities.
The USA is withdrawing from support for the Office of the Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict, from the UN Entity for Gender Equality, and from the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict – all issues on which the Association of World Citizens has been active. The USA is leaving the UN Alliance of Civilizations at a time when cross-cultural understanding is a vital need.
Many of the UN activities which the USA is leaving have dedicated U.S. citizens in the Secretariat. I am not sure what their status will be once the withdrawal is complete.
The USA is also withdrawing from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the key instrument on climate change issues. The consequences of climate change are being increasingly felt, and U.S. action would be needed.
As I noted, the representatives of NGOs will have to increase sharply their activities in the UN bodies and programs. The challenges facing us are heavy, and constructive action is urgently needed.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
