US announces $1 billion in humanitarian aid for UN
The United States has announced more than US$1 billion ($A1.4 billion) in humanitarian and disaster response assistance for UNICEF and the World Food Programme.
The funding is intended to support life-saving assistance in more than 40 countries, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday.
More than US$800 million ($1.1 billion) will go to WFP, while UN children’s agency UNICEF will receive more than US$218 million ($308 million), according to the statement.
The announcement comes a month after the US said it would provide US$1.8 billion ($A2.5 billion) to the United Nations.
In December, the Trump administration announced $US2 billion ($A2.8 billion) in funding.
Before Donald Trump took office, US financial contributions to the UN were at times significantly higher.
The US still owes billions of dollars in membership contributions to the UN, which is also under severe financial pressure and has been repeatedly harshly criticized by Trump.
At the beginning of his second term, the president questioned U.S. humanitarian aid and shut down numerous programs.
Under Trump, the world’s largest economy has also withdrawn from many UN agencies and withdrawn from UN-backed agreements.
