Antonio Guterres, the head of the United Nations, urged nations to pay their dues on Friday, warning that the organisation is in danger of going bankrupt and may run out of money by July.
According to Guterres, the UN faces chronic budget problems because some member states do not pay their mandatory contributions in full, while others do not pay on time, forcing it into hiring freezes and cutbacks.
“Either all member states honour their obligations to pay in full and on time—or member states must fundamentally overhaul our financial rules to prevent an imminent financial collapse,” Secretary-General Guterres wrote in a letter.
The UN chief’s warning also comes as US President Donald Trump’s administration has, in recent months, reduced its funding to some UN agencies and has rejected or delayed some mandatory contributions.
Trump has often questioned the UN’s relevance and attacked its priorities.
Tensions between the United States, Russia, and China—all permanent members with veto power in the Security Council, the organisation’s highest decision-making body have left the council paralysed.
This month, Trump launched his “Board of Peace,” which critics say is intended to become a rival to the UN.
Current trajectory is untenable, says Guterres
According to the UN, around $1.6 billion was recorded in unpaid contributions at the end of last year 2025, more than twice as much as in 2024, even though more than 150 member states had paid their dues.
“The current trajectory is untenable. It leaves the organisation exposed to structural financial risk,” Guterres wrote.
The UN is also facing a related problem: it must reimburse member states for unspent funds, Farhan Haq, one of Guterres’ spokespeople, said during a press briefing.
The secretary-general also highlighted that problem, writing in the letter, “We are trapped in a Kafkaesque cycle, expected to give back cash that does not exist.”
“The practical reality is stark: unless collections drastically improve, we cannot fully execute the 2026 program budget approved in December,” Guterres wrote, adding, “Worse still, based on historical trends, regular budget cash could run out by July.”
In his final yearly speech this month, Guterres, who will step down at the end of 2026, outlined his goals for the year, saying that the world was riven with “self-defeating geopolitical divides (and) brazen violations of international law.”
The UN chief denounced “wholesale cuts in development and humanitarian aid”—presumably a reference to significant budget cuts imposed by the US on UN organisations as part of the Trump administration’s “America First” initiatives.
Additional sources • AFP