In brief
The United Nations is on the brink of a financial collapse due to unpaid contributions from member states, as highlighted by Secretary General António Guterres. With funding potentially running out by July, he stresses the need for all 193 members to honor their financial commitments or reform the UN's financial rules. This crisis has been exacerbated by the US's refusal to contribute to the UN's regular and peacekeeping budgets.
The United Nations is at risk of imminent financial collapse due to member states not paying their fees, the body's head has warned.
António Guterres said the UN faced a financial crisis which was deepening, threatening programme delivery, and that money could run out by July.
He wrote in a letter to ambassadors that all 193 member states had to honour their mandatory payments or fundamentally overhaul the organisation's financial rules to avoid collapse.
It comes after the UN's largest contributor, the US, refused to contribute to its regular and peacekeeping budgets and withdrew from several agencies it called a waste of taxpayer dollars.
Guterres said the UN had faced financial crises in the past but that the current situation was categorically different. He noted that decisions not to honour assessed contributions have been formally announced, impacting the financial integrity of the entire system.
He highlighted that by 2025, a record amount of dues remained unpaid, amounting to 77% of the total owed. Guterres emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating, We cannot execute budgets with uncollected funds, nor return funds we never received.
The Secretary General called on member states to either fulfill their financial obligations or reform the UN's financial framework to prevent an imminent collapse. This dramatic plea emerges as the US continues to scale back its contributions to the UN, previously pledging $2 billion to humanitarian programs, which is a fraction of its former commitment of $17 billion in 2022.
