The United Nations is at a crossroads, facing both a financial crisis and a leadership transition. As six candidates vie to succeed António Guterres as secretary-general starting January, the organization is struggling with significant budgetary shortfalls. This crisis threatens the UN’s ability to carry out its critical missions, from human rights advocacy to peacekeeping operations.
France 24’s International affairs editor Kethevane Gorjestani has provided insights into the candidates’ visions, highlighting the challenges they will inherit. The UN’s financial woes stem from a combination of factors, including delayed payments from member states and political maneuvering that has undermined its budgetary processes.
The Roots of the UN’s Financial Crisis
The UN’s financial difficulties are largely the result of the United States withholding billions of dollars in obligatory dues, as well as China paying its dues late. The US is responsible for the largest share of the UN’s regular budget, contributing 22 percent, while China contributes just over 20 percent. Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom are also significant contributors.
The UN’s regular budget for 2026 is US$3.45 billion, a relatively small amount compared to the $50.7 billion US State Department budget for the same fiscal year. The UN peacekeeping budget for the 2026-fiscal year is $5.1 billion. However, the organization’s financial stability has been severely compromised by the actions of its major contributors.
The US has defaulted on payment of its mandatory assessed contributions and has ended the vast majority of its voluntary contributions to UN agencies and programs. In, the Trump administration announced a review of all US foreign aid and its participation in international organizations, leading to the US withdrawal from 66 organizations and entities, more than half of them affiliated with the UN.
The Impact on Human Rights and Humanitarian Work
The financial crisis has had a devastating impact on the UN’s human rights and humanitarian work. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which oversees much of the UN work on human rights around the world, is roughly 60 percent funded through voluntary contributions and 40 percent via assessed contributions through the regular UN budget.
The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, has reported that his office has cut the number of human rights missions it conducted around the world by more than half, from 11,000 in 2026 to 5,000 in 2026. Independent UN accountability mechanisms for Syria and Myanmar are also facing funding shortfalls and staff cuts.
The UN World Food Programme announced in 2026 that it would cut 30 percent of its staff because of its funding shortfall. Peacekeeping missions have had to cut staff and reduce patrols, while humanitarian aid operations have been forced to reduce the amount and scale of assistance they can provide.
Efforts to Mitigate the Crisis
In response to the financial crisis, the UN General Assembly took a crucial step on June 30, 2026, by amending a longstanding rule that would have required it to refund member state contributions it had never actually received. This move will reduce the risk of near-term bankruptcy, but it is not a sustainable solution.
The only sustainable solution to the UN’s liquidity problems is for member countries to pay their obligatory dues in full and on time, and for wealthy states to increase voluntary funding as much as possible. Additionally, UN member states should take steps to hold countries defaulting on their dues accountable.
Under article 19 of the UN Charter, member states whose arrears are equal to or exceed two full years of assessed contributions lose their General Assembly voting rights. However, this rule only applies to the General Assembly, not the UN Security Council or the other main UN bodies. A better approach would be to follow the recent move by the International Labour Organization, which canceled the appointment of a senior US official to be the agency’s deputy head over delays in US payments.
