Will Nikki Haley convince the US to continue its heavy lifting at UN?

New York (dpa) - As US President Donald Trump began his first overseas trip last week, his ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, headed out on her own debut trip.

"With American help, Syria's neighbors have made the difference between life and death for millions of Syrians," Haley wrote in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, the day before she set off to meet Syrian refugees in Jordan and Turkey.

"The US and the UN will continue to do a great deal of heavy lifting for these desperate people."

Fast forward to this week and, in Haley's absence, the US budget office recommended slashing roughly 1 billion dollars from the UN's peacekeeping fund.

Haley, a prolific Twitter user, posted images of her experiences in refugee camps as Trump's budget office announced 28 per cent cuts to funding for the State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which funds the UN and other international organisations.

The proposed allocation "provides strong support for foreign aid while reflecting the reality that resources are not unlimited," Haley said, while still on her trip, in response to Tuesday's budget announcement.

Michel Gabaudan, head of non-governmental organization Refugees International, hopes this is just Haley publicly toeing the line.

"I am glad that Ambassador Haley has taken a slightly different stand and has emphasized the importance for the US to retain its leadership role in humanitarian issues and has had no compunction about showing herself with refugees," Gabaudan told dpa.

After being on the front line of the refugee experience - Haley's pictures show her playing football with children at a refugee camp and visiting a health centre where Syrian doctors are training to practice medicine in Turkey - Gabaudan cannot see how she could support drastic cuts.

"I cannot imagine that coming back from that region she would feel comfortable to say no it's fine, we can cut and there will be no impact," Gabaudan said. "That would be a complete betrayal of what you see and hear when you are in these camps."

With no foreign policy experience before her role at the UN, the former South Carolina governor wasted no time at UN headquarters fleshing out what Trump's "America First" policy means, warning that "for those who don't have our backs, we'll be taking names."

But she also has carved out her own foreign policy niche in certain areas, notably coming down hard on Russia for its actions in Ukraine in her first days in the role.

She was praised for being a bridge between the Security Council and the US administration, even brokering a luncheon between President Trump and the UN Security Council during her stint as head of the 15-member body in April.

Gabaudan concedes that it sounds odd that Haley's first trip abroad coincided with an announcement of huge cuts, but he said perhaps it is a good thing.

Gabaudan sees Haley as one of a number of voices in the administration supporting humanitarian issues, voices which are "perhaps not loud enough, but hopefully they will get louder."

At the luncheon, Trump assured UN ambassadors the budget was "peanuts" compared to their important work, despite having already warned that the US would cut its 28 per cent peacekeeping contribution to a maximum of 25 per cent.

Talk of streamlining the UN is nothing new - Secretary General Antonio Guterres has been vocal about reform and has supported the reduction of some of the biggest peacekeeping operations.

But the UN also said it would be "simply impossible" to continue its work if the US follows through on cuts.

"Looking at the budget as it is proposed now would make it simply impossible for the UN to continue its work advancing peace, development, human rights and humanitarian assistance around the world," spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Wednesday.

The budget document released Tuesday is merely a request outlining the president's priorities for Congress. The finalized budget could well look different.

But the proposed 28 per cent cuts to the State Department and USAID send a very clear message: This administration is taking the slogan "America First" seriously and will very likely push to lighten its load in future UN budgets.


Published by dpa International (May 26, 2017)