Deal reached on cuts to UN peacekeeping: diplomat

A tentative deal on nearly USD 600 million in cuts to the UN peacekeeping budget has been reached following weeks of tough negotiations over US demands for a sharp cost reduction, a Security Council diplomat said today.
The United Nations will spend USD 7.3 billion on peacekeeping in the coming year, down from the current USD 7.87 billion, said the diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The United States, the biggest financial contributor to the peacekeeping budget, had sought a nearly USD 1 billion cut to the bill.
Hardest-hit by the cuts will be the UN missions in Sudan's troubled region of Darfur and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the two costliest operations with budgets that run over USD 1 billion.

The diplomat said however that there were "cuts across the board" in peacekeeping as a result of US pressure to scale back the budget.
Washington pays 28.5 per cent of the USD 7.9 billion budget for peacekeeping and 22 per cent of the UN's core budget of USD 5.4 billion.
The deal is expected to be approved by the UN General Assembly on Friday, when the annual budget for peacekeeping runs out.