Member States Must Pay Assessed Contributions in Full, on Time to Avert Financial Collapse by Mid-August, Senior UN Official Warns Fifth Committee

The current cash balance for the United Nations regular budget is “only sufficient to meet legal obligations through the middle of August” — not through December — the Organization’s top management official told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), urging Member States either to pay their assessed contributions in full and on time or to fundamentally overhaul the UN’s financial rules to avert imminent collapse.

“The full and efficient implementation of our programme of work depends on the financial support of Member States through the adoption of realistic budget levels and the provision of timely contributions to ensure a stable and predictable financial situation throughout the year”, said Catherine Pollard, Under-Secretary-General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, in her biannual briefing on the UN’s financial situation.

After the General Assembly approves a budget, the Secretariat calculates how much each Member State must pay.  That amount is called an assessed contribution.  Collections in 2025 were the lowest in the last seven years, she said, noting that “we ended with new record arrears of $1.57 billion”.

2026 Collections at 20-Year High

While 2026 collections so far have slightly exceeded estimates, the current cash balance is only sufficient to meet legal obligations — such as staff costs, contracts, leases and other liabilities already incurred — through mid-August, she warned.  Therefore, cash conservation measures will remain in effect “until we have certainty that we will have enough cash to meet our legal obligations up to the end of December”.

As of 30 April 2026, the Organization had collected $1.67 billion, or 51.4 per cent, of the $3.3 billion in total assessments, compared with 50.5 per cent at the same point a year earlier, with 106 Member States paying their dues in full, up from 101 during the corresponding period in 2025.

This is “a new high at this time of year in the last 20 years”, she reported, commending the 11 Member States that made advance payments before the issuance of assessment letters, as well as the 55 “honour roll” countries that paid their 2026 regular budget assessments in full within the 30-day period specified under Financial Regulation 3.5.

“However, our current estimate for collection for the whole year is only 91.1 per cent”, she said, adding that outstanding assessments — including large arrears from previous years — stood at $2.8 billion, significantly higher than in 2025.

According to Chart 9 of the presentation, the United States had owed $2.04 billion, China $429 million and Japan $152 million.

‘Vicious Cycle’ of Diminishing Cash from Year to Year

Closely linked to the liquidity crisis is the issue of credit returns — a technical but consequential mechanism that, if left unchanged, could further erode the Organization’s cash position.  Under the current rules, the Secretariat is required to return unspent funds to Member States as credits against future assessments, even when underspending results from late contributions or from funds that were never actually received.

In simple terms, non-payment creates a cash shortage; the cash shortage forces the UN to underspend; underspending generates credits back to Member States; those credits reduce future cash inflows; and the next budget cycle starts with even less money available.

To halt “this vicious cycle”, it is critical for Member States to come to an agreement about the return of credits, she urged.  Without action, the Organization will be forced to “give back approximately $1.3 billion in 2027 across regular budget and peacekeeping operations that we could not spend because we did not collect”, she warned.

She pointed out that previous Member State decisions have increased cash on hand for regular budget and peacekeeping operations, but these are “insufficient” as the liquidity crisis deepens.

“The Secretary-General urges Member States to update the financial rules of the Organization to prevent a financial collapse of the United Nations and the negative consequences for effective programme delivery”, she said.

Along with regular budget indicators, Ms. Pollard provided financial details on two other categories:  Peacekeeping operations and the international tribunals.

Cash Shortage Also Hits Peacekeeping Missions

The budget cycle for peacekeeping operations runs from 1 July to 30 June.  She said the 2025/26 fiscal year began with $2.1 billion due for all peacekeeping operations.  By 30 April, assessments of $5.3 billion had been issued and $3.8 billion had been received, resulting in an overall outstanding amount of $3.5 billion as of 30 April, including arrears from prior periods.

“With less than two months remaining in the current fiscal year, the outstanding assessment is more than half of the latest assessment”, she said, warning that “we are extremely likely to end the current fiscal year in a much worse financial position than last year”.

As peacekeeping operations continue to face cash shortages, the Organization began implementing a 15 per cent reduction in spending “due to the announced reductions in the payment of assessed contributions”.

Even though the General Assembly has allowed the UN to use two cash-management tools for peacekeeping — pooling cash across active missions and using the Peacekeeping Reserve Fund — those tools are not enough on their own.  The UN still ultimately needs Member States to pay their assessed contributions in full and on time, she said.

“To prevent a further deterioration of the financial situation of peacekeeping operations, the Secretary-General had also requested Member States to come to an agreement on limiting the return of credits based on actual cash collections”, she said.

According to Chart 15 of the presentation, the United States had owed $2.25 billion, China $870 million and Venezuela $94 million.

Budget for International Tribunals

Turning to international tribunals, she said the total contribution outstanding for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals as of 30 April 2026 was $91 million.

According to Chart 22 of the presentation, the United States had owed $44 million, the Russian Federation $29 million and China $9 million.

“Predictability in the timing and amount of collections is critical for managing the Organization’s cash outflows and planning spending properly and safely without risk of payment default”, Ms. Pollard said, appealing to Member States to commit to paying earlier and communicate their plans for payment as early as possible.

“The more confident we can be about collections; the greater will be our ability to commit funds when we need them for programme delivery”, she emphasized.