U.S. Should Reduce Funding of U.N., Watchdogs Say

On Monday, South Korea's Ban Ki-moon threw his hat into the ring to serve a second five-year term as head of the UN. While he is very likely to keep his post, and has the backing of the United States, he will face a new challenge in his next term. Congress has moved for the first time in years to cut the U.S.'s share of the UN's budget due to chronic waste, fraud and abuse, a time when the U.S. is facing huge shortfalls. America has been the largest contributor to the UN's budget ever since its founding in 1945. The U.S. is currently funding 22% of the regular UN budget and more than 27% of its peacekeeping budget. The U.S. paid in about $6.4 billion out of the UN's $22.3 billion budget. In fiscal 2001, the U.S. gave $3.2 billion.

.