GNV News 2025-5-17
On 2025–5–2, it became clear that within the United Nations (UN), in response to a severe funding crisis, major reforms and downsizing—including a large-scale organizational restructuring—are under consideration. The draft includes consolidating the functions of UN entities into four divisions: “Peace and Security,” “Political Affairs,” “Development,” and “Human Rights”; relocating staff from high-cost cities; consolidating duty stations; and reducing personnel.
One cause of the UN’s financial difficulties is Member States’ arrears in assessed contributions. The UN cannot borrow and collects mandatory assessments from Member States every 1 January. When arrears persist, it has no choice but to respond by cutting costs and drawing down reserves and surplus cash. But that has reached its limits: in 2024, a total of 41 countries failed to pay US$ 7.6 hundred million, creating a cash shortfall of US$ 2 hundred million. In 2025, the number of Member States that did not pay by the deadline rose to 49, including the United States and China, which together contribute about 20% of the UN’s annual budget. As a result, the deficit by the end of 2025 is projected to swell to US$ 11 hundred million, and the UN will likely be unable to pay staff and vendors by 2025–9. Accordingly, US$ 6 hundred million has already been cut from the UN’s 2025 regular budget.
At UN Headquarters, separate from the regular budget assessments, there are also assessments for peacekeeping (PKO). However, even as the UN faces the highest number of conflicts since its founding—and despite the peacekeeping budget amounting to only 0.5% of global military spending—arrears have reached US$ 27 hundred million.
Beyond the UN Headquarters and peacekeeping budgets, other UN agencies are also facing funding shortages due to the rapid dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and significant funding cuts by European countries. According to a survey by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the dismantling of USAID alone has meant that, as of March 2025, 71% of organizations partnering with the United States have reduced services, 44% have completely halted activities funded by the United States, and 7,900 ten-thousand people have lost assistance they previously received.
Learn more about challenges in UN assistance → “ODA: Its realities and problems“
Learn more about USAID → “UAID dismantling and global media“
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