US withdraws from 66 international organizations, what will be the impact on Bangladesh

Recently, President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from a total of 66 international organizations, including several UN organizations. Among these, in addition to important climate agreements, there are global cooperation organizations that work on human rights, democracy, gender equality and women's empowerment, which could have a major impact on countries like Bangladesh. BCB Bangla has revealed the issues in a report.

The names of these organizations were announced last Wednesday. Of these, 31 are UN organizations, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Basically, the United States wants to withdraw, citing the reasons that these organizations are no longer protecting American interests and are "promoting ineffective and hostile agendas."

In the meantime, Trump has withdrawn from the UN cultural organization UNESCO and has stopped the United States' participation in the UN Human Rights Council. Earlier, he announced plans to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Climate Agreement.

Analysts say the US withdrawal will weaken these institutions. As a result, the protection that countries like Bangladesh used to receive on global issues such as trade, humanitarian, education and climate will be severely damaged. There are fears that other rich and influential countries may also stop or reduce funding to the institutions as a result of Trump's country's withdrawal.

Apart from the UNFCCC, the 31 UN agencies from which the US is withdrawing include institutions such as the International Law Commission, the International Trade Center, the PCBuilding Commission, the UN Population Fund, the UN Democracy Fund and the UN University. And the 35 international organizations from which the US is withdrawing outside the UN include organizations such as the Global Counterterrorism Forum, the International Energy Forum, the 24/7 Carbon Free Energy Compact, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation and the International Solar Alliance.

Earlier, in January 2025, USAID's activities were terminated by an order of Donald Trump. A significant part of US assistance to Bangladesh used to come through this organization. Due to the closure of their funding, the activities of many organizations in Bangladesh have been closed, except for the allocation for the Rohingya.

If the US withdraws from the new 66 organizations, Bangladesh will suffer a major setback in addressing the climate change crisis in Bangladesh. Moreover, the protection that organizations like the World Food Program and the World Health Organization have been providing in the overall food and health sectors will also be disrupted. In addition, it will become difficult to present Bangladesh's climate-focused security and moral position to the world.
Sahab Enam Khan, a professor of international relations at Jahangirnagar University, says that if a country like the US withdraws from these organizations, the organizations will be severely weakened. Because the US is the main funding country for these organizations.

He said, "This will have a major impact on Bangladesh. Although Bangladesh is not a country that receives a significant amount of aid. But Bangladesh is protected in many ways under international law on trade and humanitarian issues because of these organizations. Now if international law and international organizations are weakened, a kind of chaos or anarchy may arise."

BCB Bangla