UN tech envoy to US: Don’t see us as charity

The United States should see the United Nations as something it can benefit from, rather than charity, the body’s tech envoy said Tuesday.

The U.S. withdrew from several U.N. bodies, including its Human Rights Council. Asked about the United Nations’ reaction, the U.N. Secretary General’s Envoy on Technology Amandeep Singh Gill said the U.N. is critical for peace and security, upholding human rights and advancing sustainable development.

“These efforts are not charity,” he told POLITICO’s AI & Tech Summit.

The U.N.’s programs and initiatives “benefit all of us … They might even benefit partners in the global north more than those in the global south,” he said, in part because global technology initiatives drive cross-border trade and investment.

Gill echoed U.N. Secretary General António Guterres’s promise this week to cut costs and streamline the body’s operations — an apparent response to the U.S. administration cutting contributions and participation.

Gill said the U.N. will strive “to achieve more efficiency and effectiveness in delivering value for member states.”