PREVIEW 2026 || António Guterres’ focus will have to be diverted from the main objective to “beg” that the UN continues to have funding
António Guterres will have his last year as UN Secretary-General in 2026, a period in which he will dedicate himself to keeping the organization financially viable and will try to avoid its bankruptcy after significant budget cuts in 2025.
In an ideal scenario, Guterres would dedicate 2025 and 2026, his final two years leading the United Nations, to promoting international cooperation around Artificial Intelligence and other large-scale problems.
However, the “sad reality is that his legacy is now linked to the financial future of the UN”, Richard Gowan, an expert on the UN system, the Security Council and peacekeeping operations, lamented to Lusa, stressing that Guterres will have to end his second and final term “begging and pressuring UN members to provide him with funding”.
Despite Guterres’ efforts to convince the world that the UN is more vital today than ever, the organization founded after the Second World War has its influence discredited and its full functioning at risk due to funding cuts from nations such as the United States, the country that hosts the institution’s headquarters in New York, and its largest donor.
At the beginning of the month, António Guterres updated the UN’s regular budget proposal for 2026, now foreseeing cuts of 577 million dollars (496 million euros) – a decrease in the budget of 15.1% compared to 2025 – and a reduction of 2,681 jobs.
Despite the UN’s workload increasing from year to year, resources are decreasing in all sectors, contributing to the fact that not all Member States pay their annual obligations in full and many do not pay on time – the deficit is currently over 1.3 billion euros.
Despite the cuts that Guterres was forced to make, the UN’s financial difficulties are expected to continue and the former Portuguese prime minister has already warned that the organization is at risk of bankruptcy next year.
“Although it is not really his fault, the Secretary-General is in a no-win situation. If the UN runs out of money, he will go down in history as the Secretary-General who let the organization go bankrupt. If he manages to overcome the situation, which I believe he will eventually, he will still be very unpopular with UN staff, who hate all the cuts he has made. This is not fair,” argued Gowan, an analyst at the International Crisis Group (ICG).
Gowan considered Guterres a victim of circumstances, as he “had the misfortune” to deal at the end of his career at the UN with the severe budget cuts enacted by Donald Trump.
“António Guterres is an intelligent man and, in another time, he could have presented really important ideas about global governance. But he is stuck dealing with cash flow problems”, he pointed out.
António Guterres’ legacy as secretary-general could be at risk. However, if you can keep the UN financially viable, your reputation could improve over time.
“Historians will be able to look back and honor Guterres as a leader who made very difficult decisions to protect the organization. His reputation may improve over time. But in the short term, he has no really good options,” said Gowan, who is director of the UN department at the ICG, a non-governmental organization focused on resolving and preventing international armed conflicts.
António Guterres assumed leadership of the UN in January 2017, having been reappointed for a second term, which ends at the end of 2026, the year in which his successor will be elected.
Although the current secretary-general rarely has much influence in the selection process, pressure is growing for Guterres to be succeeded by a woman, something that has never happened in the UN’s 80-year history.
The selection process was officially launched on November 25, with a call for applications being sent to Member States.
Although some countries clearly argue that a woman should ultimately be chosen for the position, the idea is not unanimous.
Several candidates are already known informally, including former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, and Costa Rican Rebeca Grynspan, currently heading the United Nations agency for Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Following a tradition of geographical rotation not always respected, the position is this time claimed by Latin America.
