United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres is sounding the alarm to members about the world body’s “troubling financial situation,” urging them to pay up.
“Our cash flow has never been this low so early in the calendar year, and the broader trend is also concerning; we are running out of cash sooner and staying in the red longer,” he said in a letter to staff, reports FoxNews.com.
Guterres went on to say that the organization will be taking measures to look at reducing costs, in a way that won’t affect their mission. He said he also will be proposing to states various steps to strengthen financial stability at the U.N.
Trump administration threats to cut funding do not appear to be directly linked to the cash crunch.
While the administration has been eyeing carefully its payments to various U.N. funds and agencies, the U.S. has not yet reduced or delayed its payments to the budget, though due to the fall start of the U.S. fiscal year, payments usually come later in the year. (Fox News)
Late payments are reportedly a big problem for the organization, Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Thursday.
“Late payment has an impact obviously on our cash flow. It may have an impact on our ability to deliver mandates,” he told reporters.
One former U.S. diplomat at the U.N. suggested other member states may be dragging their feet on payments over the perception that the U.S. has backed away from its commitments.
“A look at the record shows that Trump has continued to fund it at historic levels, chose it to sanction North Korea, and uses it as a platform to defend Israel. However, there is a wide misperception fed by Trump detractors and a combative media that his Administration has walked away from the U.N.,” Hugh Dugan told FoxNews.com.
“Other countries mimic the U.S., and what they hear has led them to go slow on support and check writing,” he added.