UNITED NATIONS, Mar 10 (IPS) – Confronted with an impending money disaster primarily on account 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 permitted finances for 2025 whereas deciding to freeze hiring new staffers.
America presently pays about 22% of the United Nations’ common finances and 27% of the peacekeeping finances. As of now, the USA owes $1.5 billion to the UN’s common finances. And, between the common finances, the peacekeeping finances, and worldwide tribunals, the whole quantity the US owes is $2.8 billion.
The risk in opposition to the UN has been bolstered 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), informed 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 comparable to UNCTAD, which generally take a yr or extra to fill positions, are significantly affected, he identified.
A memo final week to heads of UN Departments/Places of work and Particular Political Missions, from Chandramouli Ramanathan, Assistant Secretary-Common and Controller, refers to “Managing the 2025 common finances liquidity disaster”
The memo says “on account of current developments, we’ve got 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-Common 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 yr inside our liquidity reserves (in different phrases, no money owed apart from the borrowing from the liquidity reserves)”.
Accordingly, he stated, it has been determined that “the monetary spending ceiling for every entity might be decreased to about 80% of the permitted finances together with re-costing; and your finances for publish and different employees prices might be calculated by bearing in mind the permitted emptiness charges to your entity, re-costing for posts and a few components of different employees prices, and the precise expenditures throughout November and December final yr”.
The monetary spending ceiling for every particular political mission may even be decreased to about 80% of its permitted finances. All hiring for normal finances might be suspended with instant impact for no less than 6 months by way of the tip of August, in line with the memo.
As of 5 March 2025, solely 72 Member States (out of 193) have paid their common finances assessments in full.
The highest 10 contributors to the UN’s common finances, primarily based on assessed contributions, are the USA, China, Japan, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Canada, Brazil, and Russia.
The common finances for 2025 is $3.72 billion – round $120 million greater than the $3.6 billion determine unveiled by Secretary-Common António Guterres in October 2024 – and $130 million larger than the Group’s 2024 finances. The overall finances appropriation for 2025 quantities to $3,717,379,600.
America is the most important contributor, assessed at 22% of the common finances and China the second-largest contributor, assessed at 18.7% of the common finances.
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 Instructional, 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 lower $377 million value of funding to the UN reproductive and sexual well being company, UNFPA.
“At 7pm on 26 February, UNFPA was knowledgeable that almost 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 ladies and women and the well being and assist employees who serve them on this planet’s worst humanitarian crises.”
The USAID grants had been designated to supply essential maternal healthcare, safety from violence, rape remedy and different lifesaving care in humanitarian settings.
This consists of UNFPA’s work to finish maternal loss of life, safely ship infants and deal with horrific violence confronted by ladies and women in locations like Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine.
In the meantime, the Underneath-Secretary-Common for Administration Technique, Coverage and Compliance Catherine Pollard has determined that momentary job openings might be allowed throughout this era offered “there isn’t a improve within the publish prices to your entity”. To reduce the chance of operating out of money, it has additionally been determined to problem allotments in tranches, the memo says.
“If the liquidity state of affairs improves or there may be larger certainty concerning the timing and quantities of collections prone to be acquired, we are going to endeavour to launch further allotments as quickly as attainable. Nonetheless, please don’t depend on such further allotments”.
However, if attainable, please hold further spending plans (past the 80%) for non-post prices helpful in case we’re capable of launch further funds in the direction of the tip of the yr.
Such spending should be for actions that may be carried out inside an affordable interval, as a way to mitigate the unfavourable impression on programme supply attributable to the monetary ceiling of 80%. 12.
“We are going to attempt our greatest to maximise the funding that may be made out there. My Workplace is standing by to supply briefings and clarifications as crucial. We may even present periodic briefings on the monetary state of affairs”.
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