Tuesday December 2, 2025
www.thenewsdesk.ng
The United Nations, UN, Secretary General, António Guterres says wth less than five weeks remaining in the year, only 145 of UN’s 193 Member States, including Nigeria have paid their 2025 dues in full.
Nigeria paid its full dues in September 25.
Guterres told the Fifth Committee on Monday in New York that the UN was facing its most fragile cash position in years, in spite of sharp reductions already built into next year’s budget plans.
Key contributors such as the United States and Russia have yet to pay what they owe, although China paid its full assessment in October 29.
“I have repeatedly appealed to Member States to pay their assessed contributions in full and on time,” the Secretary-General said, warning that cash shortfalls are forcing the organisation to operate well below approved budget levels.
The UN chief, however, warned unpaid dues near $1.6billion as budgets cuts deepen.
Guterres said chronic late payments were hampering the world body’s ability to function, even as sweeping cuts move forward through the General Assembly’s main budget committee.
“Liquidity remains fragile, and this challenge will persist regardless of the final budget approved,” he said, pointing to the “unacceptable volume of arrears” owed by Member States.
The UN ended 2024 with $760 million in unpaid assessments, most of it still outstanding, and has yet to receive $877 million in contributions due for 2025 – bringing total arrears to around $1.586 billion.
Guterres spoke as delegations consider revised estimates for the UN’s 2026 regular budget, which already reflect deep structural cuts under the UN80 reform initiative – a system-wide efficiency drive aimed at modernizing operations and lowering costs.
Under the revised proposal, the UN’s regular budget for 2026 would stand at $3.238 billion, a reduction of $577 million or 15.1 per cent – compared with 2025.
Some 2,681 posts would be cut an 18.8 per cent reduction from current levels.
Special political missions would also face cuts of more than 21 per cent compared with 2025 levels, largely due to mission closures and streamlined staffing.
As part of the savings drive, the UN plans to consolidate payroll processing into a single global team across three duty stations and create shared administrative huns starting in New York and Bangkok.