U.N. Peacekeepers’ Pay Dispute Is Resolved

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/04/world/un-peacekeepers-pay-dispute-is-resolved.html

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Diplomats on Thursday resolved an unusually bitter dispute over how much United Nations peacekeepers should be paid. The countries that send troops, mostly from South Asia and Africa, are currently paid an average of $1,210 per soldier per month, a rate that has not changed for about a decade. The payments will increase gradually over the next four years, according to an agreement that is expected to be approved by the United Nations General Assembly, to just over $1,400. The countries contributing troops had wanted a rate of more than $1,700, based on an estimate provided by the United Nations Secretariat. Countries that fund peacekeeping missions — the United States, Japan and France are the largest funders — called that demand unrealistic. The total peacekeeping budget has increased to $8.6 billion, a record, though as the United Nations points out, that is less than 1 percent of total military expenditures worldwide. Each country decides how much of the reimbursement rate goes to individual soldiers.