The United Nations faces the risk of “imminent financial collapse” without urgent changes to its budget rules or full payment of contributions from all member countries, warned UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a letter sent to 193 nations.
Resources for the regular budget could run out by July, which would significantly affect UN operations. “Either all Member States honor their obligations to pay in full and on time or we will need to fundamentally reform our financial rules to avoid an imminent financial collapse,” he wrote.
Although it does not name countries, the crisis occurs amid the non-payment of mandatory contributions by the USA, traditionally the organization’s largest donor. President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that the UN “has potential”, but “has not measured up”, and his government has removed the country from organizations such as the World Health Organization and UNESCO, in addition to cutting resources from dozens of others.
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According to UN officials, the US owes US$2.196 billion to the regular budget, including US$767 million for this year and previous years. The country also owes US$1.8 billion to the separate budget for peace operations, an amount that is likely to increase. The second biggest defaulter is Venezuela, with US$38 million in arrears. The country has already lost the right to vote in the General Assembly because it has not paid contributions for two years.
Guterres stated that the UN ended 2025 with a record US$1.568 billion in outstanding contributions, more than double that recorded at the end of 2024. As a result, liquidity reserves are practically exhausted and, without a significant improvement in payments, the organization will not be able to execute the regular budget of US$3.45 billion for 2026.
The secretary-general once again criticized a rule that obliges the UN to return unused resources to member countries even when the money has not been received. “I cannot overstate the urgency of the situation we face now,” he said. “We cannot execute budgets with uncollected resources, nor return funds we never received.”
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*With information from the Associated Press
