The UN General Assembly on Monday approved a $5.38 billion budget for peacekeeping operations for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.

The approved budget is down slightly from the 2024-2025 year, which stood at $5.59 billion for 14 operations.

The approval followed weeks of negotiations by delegates amid warnings about persistent funding challenges.

The 2024-2025 peacekeeping budget, which reflects a modest decrease, followed final settlements of former missions in Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia. Acting on the recommendation of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), the Assembly endorsed the budgets for 12 missions.

It also endorsed the budgets for the logistics centres in Entebbe (Uganda) and Brindisi (Italy), as well as the support account for peacekeeping.

The budgets were adopted without a vote, except for the resolution on the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, which was adopted by 147 votes in favour.

Three voted against (Argentina, Israel and the United States), with one abstention (Paraguay).

The adoption of UNIFIL’s budget followed an Israeli-proposed oral amendment, which was rejected by five votes in favour (Argentina, Canada, Israel, Paraguay, and the U.S.) to 83 against, with 57 abstentions.

Despite the agreement on the budgets, UN controller Chandramouli Ramanathan outlined a sobering picture of the fragility of the UN’s broader liquidity situation.

“You manage somehow to find common ground three times a year. But I only wish you had gone a little bit further to solve one of the underlying problems of the UN, which has been plaguing us for 80 years,” Mr Ramanathan told delegates last week as they concluded negotiations in the Fifth Committee.

He described how approved budgets were often undermined by cash shortages, forcing immediate instructions to slash spending by 10, 15 or even 20 per cent.

UN peacekeeping remains one of the most iconic UN activities, with nearly 70,000 military, police and civilian personnel deployed across Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

Missions include long-standing deployments such as MONUSCO in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UNFICYP in Cyprus, and MINUSCA in the Central African Republic.

Mandated by the Security Council, these operations work to stabilise conflict zones, support political processes, protect civilians, and assist in disarmament and rule-of-law efforts.

UN’s peacekeeping budget is separate from its regular budget, which supports the Organisation’s core programmes, including human rights, development, political affairs, communications and regional cooperation.

The peacekeeping budget cycle runs from July to June, while the regular budget is aligned with the calendar year.

(NAN)