UN faces deepening financial crisis, urges members to pay up

This article is published in association with United Nations.

The United Nations is facing a worsening cash crisis that threatens its ability to carry out vital work, Member States warned this week, as the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee met to discuss the world body’s financial health.

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.

Officials warned that this risks eroding the UN’s credibility and its capacity to fulfil mandates entrusted to it by Member States.

Switzerland, speaking also on behalf of Liechtenstein, said the issue goes beyond accounting. “Each delay in payment, each hiring freeze, each cancelled service chips away at trust in our ability to deliver,” the delegate said.

Retain unspent funds as ‘protective buffer’

One proposed solution is to allow the UN to temporarily keep unspent funds at year’s end, instead of returning them to Member States as credits. Currently, this return is mandatory – even if the funds arrive late in the year, giving the UN little time to spend them.

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The suggested change would act as a buffer to keep operations running, particularly in January when payments tend to lag.

Delegates also backed limited use of “special commitments” — emergency funding tools — early in the year to bridge gaps caused by delayed contributions.

While these fixes may help, several speakers, including those from Kazakhstan, Norway, and the United Kingdom, emphasized that the root cause is the continued late or non-payment of dues.

Norway noted such temporary measures won’t solve the underlying problem and urged Member States to support bold financial reforms.

‘Real operational risks’

The European Union stressed that the crisis is 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.

He 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.

Particularly troubling to many was 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.

Russia called for more transparency in how the UN manages cash-saving measures, cautioning against actions taken without Member State input.

Paying dues

Catherine Pollard, the UN’s top management official, noted that since 9 May, a handful of countries have paid in full across several budget categories, while the number of nations who have paid in full for the regular budget stands at 106 for the year.

Still, with only 61 countries having met all their obligations in full, 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.

For full coverage of all meetings at the General Assembly, Security Council and elsewhere at UN Headquarters please visit our Meetings Coverage Section here. You can find the full report on this meeting, here.