The UN says it is undergoing some dire financial strain amid growing global challenges, Secretary-General António Guterres has said.

Guterres, while briefing Member States in New York on Monday about the state of the multilateral body, pushed for wide-ranging structural reforms to cut costs and enhance the world body’s effectiveness.

According to information provided by the UN Controller to the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), only $1.8 billion had been received against the $3.5 billion regular budget assessments for 2025.

This amounted to a shortfall of around 50 per cent.

As of April 30, unpaid assessments stood at $2.4 billion, with the United States owing about $1.5 billion, China ($597 million), Russia ($72 million), Saudi Arabia ($42 million), Mexico ($38 million), and Venezuela ($38 million).

Other member states had yet to pay an additional $137 million.

For the peacekeeping budget, which runs on a July-June cycle, including prior-period arrears, the unpaid amount totals $2.7 billion.

For the international tribunals, the total outstanding contribution was $79 million as of April 30.

“These are times of peril,” Mr Guterres lamented. “But they are also times of profound opportunity and obligation. The mission of the United Nations is more urgent than ever.”

Mr Guterres outlined wide-ranging efforts to revamp how the UN system operates, which included cutting costs, streamlining operations, and modernising its approach to peace and security, development and human rights.

He said the conclusions would be reflected in revised estimates for the 2026 budget in September 2025, with additional changes that require more detailed analysis presented in 2027.

Mr Guterres said the changes were expected to yield “meaningful reductions” in the overall budget, in which the departments for political and peacekeeping affairs could see a 20 per cent reduction in staff by eliminating duplication.

He said this level of reduction could serve as a benchmark across the UN system while also considering unique factors for each department.

Mr Gutterres said, “There might be immediate, one-off costs involved in relocating staff and providing potential termination packages. But by moving posts from high-cost locations, we can reduce our commercial footprint in those cities and reduce our post and non-post costs.”

He said departments at the UN’s headquarters in New York and Geneva had been asked to review whether some teams could be relocated to lower-cost duty stations, reduced or abolished.

A preliminary review identified more than 3,600 unique mandates for the secretariat alone. A full and more detailed analysis is now underway.

(NAN)