The United Nationsis facing an “imminent financial collapse” as several member states fail to pay their assessed contributions, Secretary-General, António Guterres, has warned.
Guterres said the organisation’s financial crisis is “deepening, threatening programme delivery,” adding that available funds could run out by July.
In a letter addressed to all 193 member states, he urged them to honour their mandatory payments or agree to overhaul the UN’s financial rules to avert a collapse.
The warning comes amid the refusal of the United States, the UN’s largest contributor, to pay into the organisation’s regular and peacekeeping budgets.
The US has also withdrawn from several UN agencies, describing them as a “waste of taxpayer dollars.” Other member states are either in arrears or have declined to pay.
Although the UN General Assembly approved a partial reform of the organisation’s financial system in late 2025, the UN continues to face a cash shortfall.
The situation is worsened by a rule requiring the organisation to refund unspent funds, including money it has not received.
At the UN headquarters in Geneva, cost-saving measures have been introduced, including reduced heating and shutdown of escalators.
Guterres noted in his letter that while the UN has faced financial challenges in the past, the current crisis is “categorically different.”
“Decisions not to honour assessed contributions that finance a significant share of the approved regular budget have now been formally announced,” he said.
He added that the “integrity of the entire system” depends on member states meeting their obligations under the UN Charter, noting that only 77 per cent of assessed contributions were paid in 2025, leaving a record unpaid balance.
Guterres also pointed to a rule requiring the UN to return unspent funds for programmes it could not implement, describing the situation as a “double blow.”
“I cannot overstate the urgency of the situation we now face. We cannot execute budgets with uncollected funds, nor return funds we never received.”
As a result, the UN has begun returning funds it never collected.
The letter read: “Just this month, as part of the 2026 assessment, we were compelled to return $227m (£165m) – funds we have not collected.”
“The bottom line is clear,” Guterres wrote. “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.”
The UN has also been affected by broader reductions in international aid. The US did not pay its contribution to the UN’s regular budget in 2025 and provided only 30 per cent of the expected funding for peacekeeping operations.
In January, President Donald Trump withdrew the US from dozens of international organisations, including 31 UN agencies.
Other donor countries, including the UK and Germany, have announced cuts to foreign aid, further affecting UN operations.
The financial strain has already impacted UN agencies. The human rights office has warned it lacks funds to deploy investigators, while UN Women has closed maternal health clinics in Afghanistan. The World Food Programme has reduced food rations for refugees fleeing the conflict in Sudan.
Guterres had earlier warned that the UN was facing its most fragile financial position in years, describing the situation as a “race to bankruptcy.”
- BBC