Fifth Committee

Troubled by the ongoing liquidity crisis impeding the United Nations’ ability to deliver on its mandates, delegates at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today emphasized that Member States’ timely payments of assessed contributions to the regular budget is crucial. Delegates voiced their displeasure that Member States with the highest arrears have aggravated the Organization’s financial situation, noting that there are about $1.5 billion in unpaid regular budget assessments at the end of the third quarter, the highest amount in four years.

Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today welcomed the imminent inauguration of the newly renovated historic Africa Hall at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa as well as progress on renovations at the North Building at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), expected to be the first net-zero emissions building in the United Nations system.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today began its line-by-line consideration of a proposed $3.6 billion regular budget for 2025 that reflects priorities laid down in landmark agreements such as the Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) of the General Assembly on the proposed programme budget for 2025, in New York today:

The United Nations senior management official told delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today that if fourth-quarter collections of assessments from Member States do not arrive as estimated, the Organization could end 2024 with a cash deficit that would place more liquidity pressure on the Organization’s finances in 2025.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered the Secretary-General’s appeal for $711.3 million for three dozen special political missions for 2025 as several delegations again pushed for the creation of a special financing mechanism to sustain them.

General Assembly President Philémon Yang (Cameroon) urged Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) delegates today to adopt a realistic, implementable budget for 2025 by year’s end, ideally well before the set deadline, and to plead with their respective capitals to pay their assessed contributions in full, on time and without conditions.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) elected Egriselda Aracely González López (El Salvador) Chair on 6 June.

Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today tackled how — or even whether — to recalibrate the complex financial methodology used to determine how much money each Member State will contribute to the Organization’s regular and peacekeeping budgets.

The General Assembly today authorized nearly $5.6 billion to keep 14 peacekeeping missions, 2 service centres and support staff at Headquarters operating through June 2025, adopting 20 resolutions and 1 decision forwarded by its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary).