UNITED NATIONS, Mar 10 (IPS) – Confronted with an impending money disaster primarily because of non-payment of dues by the US and over 100 different member states — together with threats of a US withdrawal from the world physique — there have been widespread rumors the United Nations was re-costing and decreasing its authorized price range for 2025 whereas deciding to freeze hiring new staffers.
The USA presently pays about 22% of the United Nations’ common price range and 27% of the peacekeeping price range. As of now, the USA owes $1.5 billion to the UN’s common price range. And, between the common price range, the peacekeeping price range, and worldwide tribunals, the overall quantity the US owes is $2.8 billion.
The menace towards the UN has been strengthened following a transfer by a number of Republican lawmakers who’ve submitted a invoice on the U.S. exit from the U.N., claiming that the group doesn’t align with the Trump administration’s “America First” agenda.
Ian Richards, a former President of the Coordinating Committee of Worldwide Employees Unions and Associations and an economist on the Geneva-based UN Convention on Commerce and Growth (UNCTAD), advised IPS the rumors are true.
As of final Monday, he stated, there was a hiring freeze within the UN Secretariat declared by the Controller. Departments reminiscent of UNCTAD, which generally take a 12 months or extra to fill positions, are notably affected, he identified.
A memo final week to heads of UN Departments/Places of work and Particular Political Missions, from Chandramouli Ramanathan, Assistant Secretary-Normal and Controller, refers to “Managing the 2025 common price range liquidity disaster”
The memo says “because of current developments, now we have reassessed the liquidity state of affairs, particularly the influx forecasts. To mitigate the chance of defaulting on funds of authorized obligations to personnel and distributors, the Secretary-Normal has directed us to handle the money outflows extra conservatively and to droop hiring until the state of affairs is clearer, and to make sure that we finish the 12 months inside our liquidity reserves (in different phrases, no money owed aside from the borrowing from the liquidity reserves)”.
Accordingly, he stated, it has been determined that “the monetary spending ceiling for every entity shall be diminished to about 80% of the authorized price range together with re-costing; and your price range for submit and different employees prices shall be calculated by making an allowance for the authorized emptiness charges on your entity, re-costing for posts and a few parts of different employees prices, and the precise expenditures throughout November and December final 12 months”.
The monetary spending ceiling for every particular political mission will even be diminished to about 80% of its authorized price range. All hiring for normal price range shall be suspended with instant impact for no less than 6 months by way of the tip of August, in accordance with the memo.
As of 5 March 2025, solely 72 Member States (out of 193) have paid their common price range assessments in full.
The highest 10 contributors to the UN’s common price range, based mostly on assessed contributions, are the USA, China, Japan, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Canada, Brazil, and Russia.
The common price range for 2025 is $3.72 billion – round $120 million greater than the $3.6 billion determine unveiled by Secretary-Normal António Guterres in October 2024 – and $130 million better than the Group’s 2024 price range. The whole price range appropriation for 2025 quantities to $3,717,379,600.
The USA is the most important contributor, assessed at 22% of the common price range and China the second-largest contributor, assessed at 18.7% of the common price range.
The US has withdrawn from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), whereas it has warned that two different UN organizations “deserve renewed scrutiny” — the UN Academic, Scientific, and Cultural Group (UNESCO) and the UN Aid and Works Company for Palestine Refugees within the Close to East (UNRWA).
In the meantime, the USA has minimize $377 million value of funding to the UN reproductive and sexual well being company, UNFPA.
“At 7pm on 26 February, UNFPA was knowledgeable that just about all of our grants (48 as of now) with USAID and the US State Division have been terminated,” the UN company stated.
“This determination could have devastating impacts on girls and ladies and the well being and support staff who serve them on the earth’s worst humanitarian crises.”
The USAID grants have been designated to supply important maternal healthcare, safety from violence, rape therapy and different lifesaving care in humanitarian settings.
This contains UNFPA’s work to finish maternal loss of life, safely ship infants and deal with horrific violence confronted by girls and ladies in locations like Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine.
In the meantime, the Underneath-Secretary-Normal for Administration Technique, Coverage and Compliance Catherine Pollard has determined that momentary job openings shall be allowed throughout this era offered “there isn’t any enhance within the submit prices on your entity”. To attenuate the chance of working out of money, it has additionally been determined to difficulty allotments in tranches, the memo says.
“If the liquidity state of affairs improves or there’s better certainty concerning the timing and quantities of collections more likely to be acquired, we are going to endeavour to launch extra allotments as quickly as attainable. Nevertheless, please don’t depend on such extra allotments”.
Nonetheless, if attainable, please hold extra spending plans (past the 80%) for non-post prices useful in case we’re capable of launch extra funds in direction of the tip of the 12 months.
Such spending have to be for actions that may be applied inside an affordable interval, with a purpose to mitigate the destructive influence on programme supply brought on by the monetary ceiling of 80%. 12.
“We’ll attempt our greatest to maximise the funding that may be made obtainable. My Workplace is standing by to supply briefings and clarifications as obligatory. We will even present periodic briefings on the monetary state of affairs”.
IPS UN Bureau Report
Observe @IPSNewsUNBureau
Observe IPS Information UN Bureau on Instagram
© Inter Press Service (2025) — All Rights Reserved. Authentic supply: Inter Press Service
