Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities

Description

U.S. contributions to U.N. peacekeeping activities help stabilize countries in conflict by protecting civilians from violence; facilitating humanitarian aid; disarming, demobilizing, and reintegrating former combatants; training local police forces; and supporting free and fair elections.

Use of Funds

The Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities (CIPA) account funds the U.S. share of assessed expenses for 11 current U.N. peacekeeping operations spanning three continents. The U.S.’s current assessment rate is 27.89% of the U.N. peacekeeping budget, though the U.S. currently only pays 25%.

An investment of $2.58 billion would allow the U.S. to pay its F.Y. 2023 peacekeeping assessments in-full as well as cap-related arrears accrued from F.Y. 2017 to F.Y. 2021.

Justification

• Fourteen peer-reviewed quantitative studies demonstrate that U.N. peacekeeping operations save lives, shorten the duration of conflicts, contain the geographic spread of war, reduce their likelihood of recurrence, and reduce sexual and gender-based violence.
• The U.N. Security Council, of which the United States is a veto-wielding permanent member, authorizes peacekeeping operations.
• U.N. peacekeeping is an excellent example of global burden-sharing. The U.N. has no standing army and depends on member states to voluntarily contribute troops and police to fulfill its peacekeeping operations.
• The U.S. provides just over two and a half dozen uniformed personnel out of a total force of nearly 74,000, including from allies like Ethiopia, Tanzania, Jordan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
• Peacekeeping missions save American taxpayers money. A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that a U.N. operation costs American taxpayers one-eighth the cost of deploying a comparable U.S. force.