New York [US], January 31 (ANI): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the world body is heading toward an “imminent financial collapse” as member states fall behind on annual contributions and long-standing structural funding issues worsen.
Detailing the gravity of the situation, Guterres recently circulated a letter to all UN member nations cautioning of a severe financial crunch and urging governments to either reform budgetary rules or face “the very real prospect of the financial collapse of our Organization,” according to Al Jazeera. He also called on countries to clear their outstanding dues.
The warning was addressed publicly during a Friday afternoon briefing, when a UN spokesperson was asked about the letter and responded that “when it comes to paying, it’s now or never.”
Expanding on the organization’s financial vulnerability, spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters that the UN does not have sufficient cash reserves or liquidity to continue functioning as it has in previous years, adding that the secretary-general has issued increasingly strong warnings on the issue each year.
While Guterres did not single out any country, the appeal comes at a time when US President Donald Trump has moved to cut Washington’s financial support for multilateral bodies. His administration has announced plans to withdraw from several UN agencies and has also promoted what Trump describes as a “Board of Peace” initiative.
Against this backdrop, Al Jazeera reported that some experts believe the initiative is intended to sideline the United Nations. Commenting on the proposal, Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch, said Trump’s board appeared to be a “pay-to-play, global club,” citing a USD 1 billion fee for permanent membership.
Charbonneau added that instead of handing Trump USD 1 billion checks, governments should work together to protect the UN and other institutions established to uphold international human rights, humanitarian law, the global rule of law, and accountability.
Under the current system, UN membership fees are calculated based on factors such as national gross domestic product, debt levels, and economic capacity, with the United States contributing 22 percent of the core budget, followed by China at 20 percent.
Despite this framework, Guterres said unpaid dues had reached a record USD 1.57 billion by the end of 2025, without identifying the countries responsible.
Reiterating the urgency of reform, he warned, according to Al Jazeera, that either all member states must honor their obligations to pay in full and on time, or they must fundamentally overhaul the UN’s financial rules to prevent an imminent collapse.
Even as financial pressures mount, the UN earlier this month approved a USD 3.45 billion budget for 2026, reflecting a 7 percent reduction from the previous year as the organization seeks to curb spending.
However, Guterres cautioned in his letter that the UN could exhaust its cash reserves by July. He also highlighted what he described as an outdated rule requiring the organization to return hundreds of millions of dollars in unused funds to member states each year.
Explaining the impact of this mechanism, Guterres said, as reported by Al Jazeera, “In other words, we are trapped in a Kafkaesque cycle expected to give back cash that does not exist.”
Figures published on the UN’s website show that as of Thursday, only 36 of the organization’s 193 member countries had fully paid their regular 2026 contributions.
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