Antonio Guterres said the organisation was at risk of “imminent financial collapse” and could run out of cash by July.
He blamed unpaid fees and a budget rule that forces the global body to return unspent money, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Friday.
The UN has struggled for cash after the US – its largest contributor – cut voluntary funding to the body’s agencies and refused to make payments to its regular and peacekeeping budgets.
Earlier this month, Washington announced the US would withdraw and cease funding for 31 UN entities, including a climate treaty and body promoting gender equality.
Guterres told Washington at the time that it had a legal obligation to pay its contributions to the budgets.
“The crisis is deepening, threatening programme delivery and risking financial collapse. And the situation will deteriorate further in the near future,” Guterres wrote in a letter to ambassadors dated January 28th.
“Decisions not to honour assessed contributions that finance a significant share of the approved regular budget have now been formally announced.”
It was not clear which members he was referring to and a UN spokesman did not immediately respond to the Telegraph for comment.
Guterres urged all member states to “honour their obligations to pay in full and on time” or to “fundamentally overhaul our financial rules to prevent an imminent financial collapse”.
Worth reading in full.
Dr. Will Jones is Editor of the Daily Sceptic. He has a PhD in political philosophy, an MA in ethics, a BSc in mathematics and a diploma in theology. This article was first published HERE
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