PREVIEW
Conditional US backing reopens a funding route for African Union missions, without guaranteeing a rescue for Somalia’s cash-strapped operation
Washington has softened its opposition to UN financing of African Union-led peace operations without loosening its grip on which missions get the money. US Representative for UN Management and Reform Ambassador Jeffrey Bartos told the Security Council on 6 October that operations financed under UN Resolution 2719 would strengthen the AU-UN partnership and use the AU’s comparative advantages to addressing conflict in Africa. Peacekeeping operations should also be ‘small, time-bound and have clear objectives,’ said Bartos. ‘We will …evaluate, on a case-by-case basis, where 2719 might be most effectively applied,’ he added.
The mechanism could cover up to 75% of an approved mission’s costs, but each operation would still need Council authorisation (AC Vol 67 No 14, US withdrawal threatens peacekeepers). That means ensuring there is no US veto. For Somalia’s underfunded mission, the shift offers a diplomatic opening but no guarantees. The AU Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia is in limbo. It is due to wind down in early 2027 after the US and other states threatened to stop funding (AC Vol 66 No 14, Politicians seek a way out of the impasse & Dispatches 27/4/26, Brussels bankrolls the fight against Al Shabaab – but only just).
The Trump administration had previously said that never support the implementation of the resolution because it accounts for more than 20% of the UN’s budget. Officials in Washington say the administration’s priorities for peace missions financed via UNSCR 2719 would be in Sudan, eastern Congo-Kinshasa and the Sahel. They don’t include the current UN mission in Somalia, which is the latest in a series of dating back to 1992. It is a transitional assistance mission, focusing on security sector reform and defeating the Islamist militia Al Shabaab.
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