HQ Team
May 20, 2025: The UN, facing a funding crisis following global budget cuts, is at risk of eroding its credibility and capacity to fulfil the mandates entrusted to it by its 193 members, delegates heard.
With a growing shortfall in contributions – $2.4 billion in unpaid regular budget dues and $2.7 billion in peacekeeping – the UN has been forced to cut spending, freeze hiring, and scale back some services.
This week, Member States will vote on a proposed 20% increase in assessed contributions, as well as a reduced Programme Budget of $ 4.2 billion for 2026–2027, down from an earlier proposal of $ 5.3 billion. The cuts reflect an effort to align WHO’s work with current funding levels while preserving core functions.
Catherine Pollard, UN’s Under Secretary-General, Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, told delegates at the ongoing General Assembly, the UN’s top decision-making body, that since May 9, only a handful of countries had paid in full across several budget categories.
Only 61 countries had met all their obligations in full, and the message from Member States was clear: “Without broad, timely financial support, the UN’s ability to serve the world, especially in times of crisis, is at serious risk.”
Unspent funds
Among the proposed remedies under discussion is a revision to the long-standing rule requiring unspent funds at year-end to be returned to Member States as credits.
The UN regular budget operates on a calendar-year basis. When Member States make their assessed payments late in the year, especially in November or December, the organization has very little time to use those funds.
As a result, much of the money remains unspent by year’s end, with opportunities being lost to implement planned activities and deliver results within the budget year.
“Each delay in payment, each hiring freeze, each cancelled interpretation service chips away at the trust in our collective ability to uphold the decisions we take,” said Switzerland’s representative, speaking also for Liechtenstein, warning that this is not merely a budgetary issue, but a question of credibility.
He expressed support for the creation of a conditional, time-limited mechanism that allows the Secretariat to defer credit returns when the programme implementation rate falls below 90 per cent and when the liquidity situation is such that it could threaten delivery in the following year.
‘Protective buffer’
This mechanism is a “protective buffer designed to give the organisation enough breathing room to avoid paralysis in early January when incoming contributions are often delayed,” he said.
He also supported the exceptional use of special commitments — extra-budgetary authorisations approved by the UN General Assembly to fund unexpected or urgent activities not included in the regular budget — during the first quarter of the year.
This would allow the Secretariat to maintain operational momentum and avoid the premature return of unspent but still-needed resources. “None of these proposals are radical,” he said, as they are “not a call for new resources,” nor for increased flexibility without oversight.
The European Union stated that the crisis was not abstract. “These are real operational risks,” its delegate said, adding that the burden cannot fall solely on countries that pay on time.
Singapore, speaking for the Southeast Asian group of nations, ASEAN, echoed concern that the UN’s liquidity problems have become routine.
‘Political reasons’
Its representative cited the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific’s (ESCAP) need to shut its offices for three months and suspend travel and hiring.
The fact that one country (unnamed in the meeting but widely known to be the United States) is responsible for over half of all unpaid dues, reportedly withholding funds for political reasons, was echoed by many nations.
Russia called for more transparency in how the UN manages cash-saving measures, cautioning against actions taken without Member State input.
The United Nations’ three core budget accounts — for programmes, peacekeeping operations and international tribunals — are all funded through assessed contributions, which are obligatory payments made by Member States based on a formula approved by the General Assembly, which factors in their capacity to pay.
