The United Nations Needs Money
The United Nations (UN) is facing its worst deficit in over a decade because its member states have failed to pay their annual dues.1 Per Article 17 of the UN Charter, the UN is funded by its members’ dues.2 These dues fund the organization’s internal operations and its peacekeeping efforts.3 While the UN has experienced deficits before, without timely payment of its dues, the UN is forced to make staffing and spending cuts and shrink the scope of its peacekeeping projects.4
The percentage of the total budget each member state owes is determined through a calculation of its gross national income, population, and debt burden.5 It is regularly revised.6 Currently, the five permanent members of the Security Council — the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, and Russia — have the highest dues.7 As of early October, sixty-five member nations owe money in dues to the UN.8 This has resulted in an approximately $1.38 billion deficit.9 Among the member nations that have failed to pay their shares in full is the United States, which currently owes $674 million for membership for this year alone and $381 million in back payments.10 In addition, the United States owes an additional $776 million towards the UN peacekeeping budget.11
According to a statement by the UN Secretary-General, António Gutteres, as a result of the deficit, he has been “forced to introduce extraordinary measures to cope with the record-level shortage of cash. Vacant posts cannot be filled, travel will be limited to essential travel only, meetings may have to be canceled or deferred.”12 He has also warned that operating at this deficit will not only affect the performance of the main UN hubs in New York, Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi, but also regional commissions.13
The repercussions for not paying are governed by Article 19 of the UN Charter.14 The article states:
“A Member of the United Nations which is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the Organization shall have no vote in the General Assembly if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it or the preceding two full years.”15
There is, however, an exception to this rule that states, “The General Assembly may, nevertheless, permit such a Member to vote if it is satisfied that the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the Member.”16 Because of this exception, it is very difficult for the UN to enforce payment of dues on its member nations.17While collection of US dues has been an issue for the UN since the 1980s, the Trump administration has been particularly vocal about its disapproval of the United States’ relatively high cost for membership.18 The UN will reassess its budget in 2021, at which time it is likely to consider tightening the repercussions for not paying dues under Article 19.19 For example, the Secretary General has asked member states to consider lowering the debt threshold to below two years, so that the threat of losing the General Assembly vote is more imminent.20 Another option for the UN is to expand its reserve accounts and change budgeting procedures to allow funds to be transferred more easily between projects.21
For now, however, the UN will be forced to make changes to its budget that will likely significantly impact the efficiency and depth of its work. Certain regional offices and local actors will have to take on greater responsibilities in maintaining UN peacekeeping missions, as they have been doing in Africa, where the UN has seven of its thirteen active peacekeeping operations.22 Needless to say, the UN is a key player in maintaining international peace, and its member nations will need to pay their dues if it is to continue its important, expanding work.
Sarah McShane is a staff member of Fordham International Law Journal Volume XLIII.
This is a student blog post and in no way represents the views of the Fordham International Law Journal.
1 Mukesh Rawat, Worst crisis hits UN: Why it is forced to freeze hiring, stop using escalators & ACs at offices, India Today (Oct. 16, 2019, 17:35 IST), https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/united-nations-facing-worst-financial-crisis-cash-crunch-1609728-2019-10-16.
2 U.N. Charter art. 17, ¶ 2.
3 See supra note 1.
4 See Gary Wilson, Why the UN’s financial crisis will hurt Africans more than anyone else, The Conversation (Nov. 6, 2019 at 8:23 AM), http://theconversation.com/why-the-uns-financial-crisis-will-hurt-africans-more-than-anyone-else-126034.
5 Amanda Shendruk, This is the complicated, convoluted, and controversial formula that determines who pays what to the UN, Quartz (Sept. 26, 2018), https://qz.com/1398226/un-budget-funding-formula-us/.
6 See supra note 1.
7 See supra note 4.
8 See supra note 1.
9 Michelle Nichols, U.N. members owe $2 billion in debt to peacekeeping, U.S. owes a third, Reuters (Jan. 17, 2019, 4:13 PM), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-un-peacekeepers-usa/u-n-members-owe-2-billion-in-debt-to-peacekeeping-u-s-owes-a-third-idUSKCN1PB2OD.
10 Marty Johnson, US delinquent on payments as UN faces 'worst cash crisis' in a decade, The Hill (Oct. 9, 2019, 2:11 PM), https://thehill.com/policy/international/un-treaties/465046-us-delinquent-on-payments-as-un-faces-its-worst-cash-crisis.
11 Supra note 8.
12 Work and reforms of the UN ‘at risk’, Guterres warns Member States, amidst ‘record-level’ cash crisis, UN News (Oct. 8 2019), https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/10/1048782.
13 Id.
14 U.N. Charter art. 19.
15 Id.
16 Id.
17 Supra note 1.
18 David Bosco, The U.N. has a cash crunch. Almost a third of members have yet to pay their 2019 dues., The Wash. Post (Oct. 15, 2019 at 6:12 AM), https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/10/15/un-has-cash-crunch-almost-third-members-have-yet-pay-their-dues/.
19 See supra note 1.
20 Id.
21 Id.
22 See supra note 4.