Dallas: The Trump administration of the United States will direct money away from the international body and instead disperse it to faith-based and other nonprofit organizations.

US Vice President Mike Pence, who announced this on October 25, said the move was taken since the United Nations has failed to serve properly Middle Eastern Christians facing persecution.

“Our fellow Christians and all who are persecuted in the Middle East should not have to rely on multinational institutions when America can help them directly,” the vice president said at a summit in Dallas hosted by In Defense of Christians, a D.C.-based nonprofit that advocates for Christians living in the Middle East.

“And tonight, it is my privilege to announce that President Trump has ordered the State Department to stop funding ineffective relief efforts at the United Nations,” he continued. “From this day forward, America will provide support directly to persecuted communities” through the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, reports americamagazine.org.

Carl Anderson, the head of the Knights of Columbus who has previously met with the vice president to discuss anti-Christian persecution, welcomed the news.

“The Knights of Columbus applauds Vice President Mike Pence’s announcement that the Trump administration will begin providing aid directly to religious minority groups impacted by ISIS’ genocide,” Andersonsaid in a statement on October 26 “For almost two years, the K of C has warned that Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East have been falling through the cracks in the aid system, and has been urging the United States government to provide aid directly to genocide-targeted communities.”

Pence’s announcement lacked specifics about how much money would be funneled away from the United Nations or about which groups might receive increased funding from USAID. He said “faith-based groups with proven track records and deep roots in these communities are more than willing to assist,” but “the United Nations too often denies their funding requests.”

“My friends, those days are over,” he said.

During a press conference on October 26, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said “details are still being worked out” and that the Trump administration is continuing the policies of previous presidencies in not wanting to “shy away from funding religious-based NGOs.” She said that even with cuts to U.N. programs, the United States will remain “the most generous, largest humanitarian donor in the world.”

“The U.N. will still get some of its money for this, but we will look for other avenues in which to more efficiently fund these types of religious minorities so that they can eventually return back home,” she said. “This [policy] does not apply to all U.N. programs. It applies to programs that address the persecuted and displaced religious minority communities.”

Nauert said she was unable to provide data supporting claims that U.N. programs are inefficient and said she was unsure how much money would be diverted.

Earlier this year, the president proposed sharp cuts to USAID, which in fiscal year 2016 spent about US$19 billion on international aid, equivalent to less than 1 percent of the United States’ total budget. Pence did not address the potential cuts during his speech.

While it is unclear when changes may come, one organization that could benefit is Catholic Relief Services, the overseas charitable arm of U.S. bishops. In fiscal year 2015, CRS received close to US$240 million for its work, making it one of the largest recipients of money from USAID. (According to the same report, USAID gave about $2.4 billion to three U.N. agencies that year.)

A representative from CRS said the organization was studying Pence’s announcement and that it could not comment on specifics, but she reiterated that C.R.S. helps vulnerable people regardless of religious belief.

“Christians and other minorities, including Yazidis and Muslim minorities, are suffering greatly from conflicts in the Middle East. Based on CRS’s mission to assist the most vulnerable around the world, we provide this assistance based on need, not creed,” Nikki Gamer, a spokeswoman for Catholic Relief Services, told America. “C.R.S. has provided humanitarian aid to millions of people of all faiths in the Middle East.”

For its part, Jesuit Refugee Services also said it was still processing Pence’s announcement—though the organization voices support for U.N. refugee programs.

““The Jesuit Refugee Service/USA has long advocated for robust humanitarian assistance,” Giulia McPherson, director of advocacy and operations, said in a statement to America. “The U.S. makes vital contributions to the operations of humanitarian organizations including the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), which helps sustain millions of refugee lives every day. This funding is essential to saving lives, and building a better world for people of all faiths and traditions.”

Shaun Casey, a former State Department official who now heads the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University, told The Atlantic he believes the policy change is an attempt to divert attention away from the proposed cuts to international aid, by appeasing Christian conservatives who form Mr. Trump’s political base.

“They could absolutely devastate the global USAID budget, but if they come up with $10 million to put in the hands of a group of conservative Christian N.G.O.s on the ground, that’s how they’re going to take credit,” he said.

During his address, Pence painted a bleak picture of Christians living in the Middle East, a frequent theme in his talks. He also announced he would visit Egypt and Israel in December.

“In Egypt, we see the bombing of churches during Palm Sunday celebrations—a day of hope transformed into a day of horror,” Mr. Pence said. “In Iraq, we see monasteries demolished, priests and monks beheaded, the two-millennia-old Christian tradition in Mosul clinging for survival. In Syria, we see ancient communities burned to the ground, believers tortured for confessing Christ, and women and children sold into slavery.”

He promised that the United States would continue to fight terrorist groups “on our terms, on their soil.”

Source: America Magazine