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The United Nations has overhauled a decades-old \u201cKafkaesque financial rule\u201d that requires it to return unspent funds to Member States — even when those funds had never been deposited in the first place.<\/p>\nThe United Nations has overhauled a decades-old \u201cKafkaesque financial rule\u201d that requires it to return unspent funds to Member States — even when those funds had never been deposited in the first place.<\/p>\n
The decision taken by the General Assembly on Tuesday follows recommendations from its Fifth Committee, which is responsible for administrative and budgetary matters.<\/p>\n
It comes as the UN continues to face a severe liquidity crunch as governments delay paying their mandatory financial contributions, forcing cuts across the system affecting everything from hiring to peacekeeping operations and humanitarian assistance.<\/p>\n
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UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres welcomed the decision in a statement released following the vote, noting that the old financial rules were putting the organization\u2019s \u201cstability at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy its vote, the Assembly has agreed to introduce, for a four-year trial period, a new methodology to ensure that unspent funds are returned to Member States only when they are backed by cash,\u201d the UN chief continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis decision will allow us to manage resources, especially for regular and peacekeeping budgets, in a more predictable and responsible way, and to better deliver on the mandates given by Member States<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n He described the change as \u201ccritical for our immediate operational continuity, especially for peacekeeping operations,\u201d and a major improvement for the next Secretary-General who takes over in January next year.<\/p>\n The UN\u2019s top official will no longer be forced to return funds that were \u201call too often, never even received in the first place<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n The UN ended 2025 with a record high of $1.6 billion in unpaid assessments, according to the Secretary-General latest report on the Organization\u2019s financial status, issued last month.<\/p>\n Overall arrears across the regular budget, peacekeeping and two international tribunals exceed $6.5 billion. <\/p>\n At the beginning of this year, the UN implemented strict cash conservation measures to both reduce and slow expenditures.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Secretary-General has requested Member States to either honour their obligations to pay in full and on time or fundamentally overhaul the organization\u2019s financial rules to prevent an imminent collapse,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n Until Tuesday night, the financial rules, established 80 years ago, required the UN to give back any unspent funds to Member States as credits against future assessments<\/strong>.<\/p>\n This applied even when underspending results from late contributions or from funds that were never received. <\/p>\n Annalena Baerbock, the General Assembly President, raised the issue in an address to the European Parliament in February.<\/p>\n\u2018Critical\u2019 for UN\u2019s immediate future<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Record level of arrears<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Hamstrung<\/strong><\/h2>\n