UN chief calls organization's current financial trajectory 'untenable'

HAMILTON, Canada

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned about the dire financial situation that the organization is experiencing due to non-payment of dues by member states.

In the letter sent to member states, which was seen Friday by Anadolu, Guterres emphasized the "gravity" of the situation and stated that the current "situation is categorically different."

"Decisions not to honor assessed contributions that finance a significant share of the approved regular budget have now been formally announced," he said, calling it "untenable."

He laid out two "stark" choices. "Member States must either agree to overhaul our financial rules – or accept the very real prospect of the financial collapse of our Organization."

"In other words, we are trapped in a Kafkaesque cycle; expected to give back cash that does not exist," he stressed.

Noting that the UN's current liquidity management is no longer feasible, he said that "under the current financial rules, the more we save, the more we are penalized."

"The crisis is deepening, threatening programme delivery and risking financial collapse," Guterres said, warning that "the situation will further deteriorate in the near future."

He stressed that the UN "ended 2025 with a record $1.568 billion in outstanding dues, more than double those of the previous year. "

Without radical improvement in money collections, the UN will not be able to "fully execute the 2026 programme budget approved in December," he warned.

"Worse still, based on historical trends, regular budget cash could run out by July," he said, adding that the UN is reducing peacekeeping operations for the 2025-2026 period by 15%.

Urging for "concerted effort by Member States" to turn the "vicious cycle" around, Guterres said, "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."

- UN facing 'liquidity crisis'

When the UN chief's spokesperson Farhan Haq was asked about the letter during a news conference, he said that "the key point is to underscore the gravity of the current financial situation that the United Nations faces."

"The Secretary-General has, as you know, repeatedly made clear the problem both of non-payment of dues by Member States and the related problem of the UN being forced to repay Member States for budget money that it does not spend," he said, noting the "unsustainable trajectory."

Haq emphasized that the UN is facing a "liquidity crisis."

Citing the "record $1.56 billion in outstanding dues," Haq warned that the UN will be confronted with "a real danger of running out of money" soon.

Haq explained that the UN does not "have the sort of cash reserves and the sort of liquidity to keep functioning, as we've done in previous years."

Responding to Anadolu's question on possible initiatives to amend the regulations of the UN budget, Haq said, "The Member States can change their regulations, but we are counting on them to understand the severity of the situation we face and to take action appropriately."