Trump to order US withdrawal from UN Human Rights Council, halt UNRWA funding

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Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters about Wednesday’s deadly midair collision between a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Eagle flight 5342 near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 30, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz 

WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to issue an executive order on Tuesday withdrawing the U.S. from the U.N. Human Rights Council and prohibiting funding for the U.N. Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, a White House official said on Monday.

Trump has already previously ordered U.S. withdrawals from the World Health Organization and from the Paris climate agreement since taking office on Jan. 20.

What is the U.N. Human Rights Council?

The mission  of The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)  is to promote and protect human rights around the world.[The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis.The headquarters of the Council are at the United Nations Office at Geneva in Switzerland.

What is UNRWA

UNRWA provides needed services to the most desperate people among the Palestinians.” Chris Lu the Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations for Management and Reform was quoted as saying in October 2023 , adding ““In Gaza, there is simply no replacement for the critical role of… UNRWA. For years, UNRWA schools, clinics, and relief efforts have served as the only alternative to Hamas in Gaza.” An independent review published today found that Israel has not provided evidence of its claims that staff members of UNRWA were Hamas terrorists.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East  (UNRWA),  is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA’s mandate encompasses Palestinians who fled or were expelled during the Nakba, or Catastrophe of the 1948 Palestine War, and subsequent conflicts, as well as their descendants,including legally adopted children.As of 2019, more than 5.6 million Palestinians are registered with UNRWA as refugees.

Reuters)

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