The United States has pressured United Nations (U.N.) organizations to stop focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), with significant funding possibly under threat should they insist on promoting those practices.
Newsweek reached out to the U.N., UNICEF, the White House and the U.S. State Department for comment by email on Saturday afternoon.
Why It Matters
Trump ordered an end to DEI policies on his first day back in office last month, signing an executive order called “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.” The change doesn’t merely end programs that promote DEI or gender equality programs but also mentions of transgenderism and queer identity.
Other departments, such as the Pentagon, soon followed suit, with the U.S. Army on Friday announcing it would no longer allow transgender individuals to join the military and would stop performing or facilitating gender transition procedures.
The U.S., meanwhile, has put its relationship with the U.N. in question. Trump cut ties with the Human Rights Council and stopped funding for the Relief and Works Agency for Palestine.
The U.S. accounts for around 22 percent of the U.N.’s core budget and 27 percent of the peacekeeping budget. China is the second-most significant contributor behind the U.S., and critics have warned that every step back from international engagement the U.S. takes opens a space for China to replace it.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
What To Know
The Trump administration appears to be turning its DEI focus international. Reuters reported that during executive board meetings over the past week at the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and U.N. Women, the U.S. made clear that it does not want to see either group promoting DEI or “gender ideology.”
U.S. representatives attempted to edit documents that would have called on UNICEF to scrap DEI or related programs to “promote and underscore biological reality,” but they failed, according to Reuters.
In remarks published on February 7, Jonathan Shrier, acting representative of the U.S. to the U.N.’s Economic and Social Council, said the U.S. “cannot agree to country program documents that contain terms and concepts that conflict with U.S. policies as set out in President Trump’s recent Executive Orders, especially when those concepts endanger the very mission of the organization.”
“The United States also objects to any UNICEF efforts to advance such programming in countries,” Shrier said, adding that he believed that DEI programs “violate the text and spirit of our laws by replacing hard work, merit, and equality with a divisive and dangerous preferential hierarchy.”
Prior to an executive board meeting of the U.N. World Food Program, the program’s Gender Protection and Inclusion services sent a note to some colleagues warning them to use “descriptive language” rather than “specific nomenclature” about diversity “in light of recent communications coming from the White House,” Reuters reported.
“Please avoid controversial language including LGBTQI+ and SOGIESC terminology … let’s avoid combining diversity, equity, inclusion and/or accessibility in one statement or sentence,” the note said.
What People Are Saying
The U.S. Bureau of International Organization Affairs wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “The U.S. has long valued UNICEF’s vital work to protect children around the world but cannot support UNICEF’s promotion of divisive concepts like DEI and gender ideology. They directly conflict with official U.S. policy described in POTUS’ recent Executive Orders.”
In a separate post, it added: “UN Women should abandon radical causes such as DEI, critical race theory, and gender ideology, which are demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls. The U.S. urges UN Women to recognize biological reality and focus on efforts to ensure the equality of women and girls.”
Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, earlier this week wrote on X: “Today, we dove into the reckless and wasteful spending of our federal government. The United States should not be the sugar daddy for the entire world, especially not for countries and organizations who act contrary to our nations’ beliefs.”
The X account for Germany in the United Nations last week posted: “Closing an important session of the #UNICEF Executive Board, 24 countries felt it was time to acknowledge again that UNICEF makes real difference for hundreds of millions of children worldwide. Proud to be partner in this noble endeavor.”
What Happens Next
The U.S. will continue to pressure the U.N. to change its language and approach to DEI, but every step back from the international scene the U.S. takes provides an opportunity for other countries to increase their own.
It remains to be seen if the U.S. will indeed pull its funding from the U.N.
