United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has issued a stark warning that the world body is on the brink of a financial collapse unless its 193 member states either pay their assessed contributions in full and on time or agree to overhaul the UN’s financial system.
In a letter to all permanent representatives, Guterres said the UN is facing an unprecedented budget crisis driven by record levels of unpaid dues and structural budget rules that force the organisation to return unspent funds even when those contributions have not been received.
“Decisions not to honour assessed contributions that finance a significant share of the approved regular budget have now been formally announced,” the secretary general wrote, without naming specific members.
By the end of 2025, outstanding contributions had climbed to about $1.57 billion, the highest level in the organisation’s history, threatening its ability to meet the $3.45 billion regular budget for 2026.
Only a small fraction of member states had fully paid their assessed fees for this year.
Guterres cautioned that if the situation does not improve, the UN could run out of cash by July 2026, jeopardising core operations, peace and security programmes, humanitarian work, and administrative functions.
The crisis has been compounded by reduced funding and delayed payments from major contributors, including the United States, which traditionally accounts for a substantial portion of the UN’s budget.
Guterres called on member states to meet their financial obligations and urged urgent reform of the organisation’s financial rules to prevent collapse and ensure the UN can fulfill its mandates globally.
Guterres said a rule that the UN must return unspent money to members if it could not implement a budget created a “double blow” in which it was “expected to give back cash that does not exist”.
“I cannot overstate the urgency of the situation we now face. We cannot execute budgets with uncollected funds, nor return funds we never received.”
He wrote: “The bottom line is clear: either all member states honour their obligations to pay in full and on time – or member states must fundamentally overhaul our financial rules to prevent an imminent financial collapse.”
The US is the international organisation’s largest contributor, but President Donald Trump has said it was not fulfilling its “great potential” and has criticised it for failing to support US-led peace efforts.
In January, he withdrew the US from dozens of international organisations, including some 31 UN agencies, to “end American taxpayer funding and involvement in entities that advance globalist agendas over US priorities”.
In late December, the US pledged $2bn (£1.5bn) to fund UN humanitarian programmes – while warning at the same time the organisation must “adapt or die”.
This was a fraction of its previous spending. In 2022, its contribution to the UN’s humanitarian work was estimated at $17bn.
Guterres had warned earlier that same month that the UN faced its most fragile financial position in years – again citing unpaid fees – having said in October that it faced a “race to bankruptcy”.
Trump has separately been accused by critics of seeking to replace some functions of the UN with his Board of Peace to oversee regeneration efforts in Gaza.
The US president has said its work would happen “in conjunction with the United Nations” – but when previously asked by a Fox TV journalist whether the board would take the UN’s place, he replied: “Well, it might.”
