United Nations member countries took an important step last week to protect the world body from financial ruin.
The UN has faced a liquidity crisis for years, mostly due to the United States withholding billions of dollars in obligatory contributions and China paying very late. This has forced the UN to cut back on peacekeeping operations and lifesaving humanitarian and human rights work.
Earlier this year, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned governments that the UN was approaching “imminent financial collapse.” He urged member countries to cancel a rule effectively requiring the UN to refund money it never received from member countries, since complying with it now could risk bankrupting the organization.
The General Assembly voted last week to halt the rule, passing a resolution that introduces a four-year trial period amending the practice so it only applies to funds the UN receives but doesn’t use, not money member states never paid.
The UN administrative budget and peacekeeping operations are funded with obligatory contributions from member states, assessed according to the size of countries’ economies and expected to be paid early each new year. But dozens of countries pay late or not at all. The liquidity crisis, which has had a disproportionate impact on the UN’s already underfunded and understaffed human rights operations, will continue as long as the US and China, the two largest contributors, do not pay their share in full and on time.
Last week the General Assembly’s budget committee also adopted multiple resolutions related to the 2026-2027 peacekeeping budget. Once again, China, backed by Russia, sought to cut numerous posts dedicated to human rights. European delegations and some from Latin America, Asia, Africa and elsewhere resisted and salvaged most of them, including a crucial post at the UN Support Office in Haiti.
The General Assembly’s budget vote is good news, but it won’t solve the underlying problem. All UN member states should honor their funding obligations so the UN is not forced to curtail critical human rights, humanitarian and peacekeeping operations.
