UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2020) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the UN's entire program of work and the approval of budget risk being underfunded in 2020 unless all member states pay their yearly dues promptly and in full.
"Last year, we managed to survive our deepest financial crisis in a decade," Guterres said on Wednesday. "Unless all member states pay their assessed contributions on time and in full, we risk receiving insufficient funds to implement the entire program of work and full budget approved for 2020."
Guterres noted that arrears have increased from $529 million at the end of 2018 to $711 at the end of 2019. He explained that such a situation exists because nearly half of contributions reach the United Nations in the first three months of the year, and almost a quarter comes at the end, which leaves an insufficient amount of cash from July to October.
"We could manage in the cash-strapped months if we had sufficient liquidity reserves and more flexibility in managing our resources as a pool," he said. "But our regular budget liquidity reserves are insufficient and structural impediments prevent us from minimizing the impact across programs."
In October, Guterres announced that the world's body was facing a severe budget crisis due to many member states' failure to pay their regular annual dues.
Following the announcement, the Secretariat put in place a set of measures, such as restricting the travel of UN staff, shutting down some escalators, limiting heating and air-conditioning services and adjusting hire practices among others in UN main offices in New York, Vienna, Geneva and Nairobi to curtail spending.
