San Francisco Frontiers - Guterres warns UN risks 'imminent financial collapse'

The UN faces chronic budget problems because some member states do not pay their mandatory contributions in full, while others do not pay on time, forcing it into hiring freezes and cutbacks.

"Either all Member States honor their obligations to pay in full and on time -- or Member States must fundamentally overhaul our financial rules to prevent an imminent financial collapse," Secretary-General Guterres wrote in a letter.

US President Donald Trump's administration has in recent months reduced its funding to some UN agencies and has rejected or delayed some mandatory contributions.

Trump has often questioned the UN's relevance and attacked its priorities.

The organization's top decision-making body, the Security Council, is paralyzed because of tensions between the United States and Russia and China, all three of which are permanent, veto-wielding members.

Trump also launched his "Board of Peace" this month, which critics say is intended to become a rival to the UN.

- 'Untenable' -

Although more than 150 member states have paid their dues, the UN ended 2025 with $1.6 billion in unpaid contributions -- more than double the amount for 2024.

"The current trajectory is untenable. It leaves the Organization exposed to structural financial risk," Guterres wrote.

The UN is also facing a related problem: it must reimburse member states for unspent funds, Farhan Haq, one of the Guterres' spokespeople, said during a press briefing.

The secretary-general also highlighted that problem, writing in the letter: "We are trapped in a Kafkaesque cycle; expected to give back cash that does not exist."

"The practical reality is stark: unless collections drastically improve, we cannot fully execute the 2026 program budget approved in December," Guterres' wrote, adding: "Worse still, based on historical trends, regular budget cash could run out by July."

Guterres, who will step down at the end of 2026, this month gave his last annual speech setting out his priorities for the year ahead and said the world was riven with "self-defeating geopolitical divides (and) brazen violations of international law."

He also slammed "wholesale cuts in development and humanitarian aid" -- an apparent reference to deep cuts to the budgets of UN agencies made by the United States under the Trump administration's "America First" policies.

T.Rivera--SFF