The UN scrapped a rule that forced him to pay back money he never received

Decisions taken by General Assembly on Tuesday following his recommendation Fifth Committeewho is responsible for administrative and budget matters.

This comes as the UN continues to face a severe liquidity crisis as governments delay payments of their mandatory financial contributions, forcing system-wide cuts that impact everything from recruitment to peacekeeping operations and humanitarian assistance.

Guterres welcomed the important reforms

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres welcomed the decision in a statement released after the vote, stating that legacy financial regulations put “organizational stability at risk.”

“By voting, the Assembly has agreed to introduce, for a trial period of four years, a new methodology to ensure that unspent funds are returned to Member States only if they are backed by cash,” the UN Secretary General continued.

“This decision will allow us to manage resources, especially for the regular budget and peacekeeping, in a more predictable and responsible way, and to better implement the mandates given by Member States..”

‘Critical’ for the future of the UN

He described the changes as “critical for our operational continuity, especially for peacekeeping operations,” and a major step forward for the next Secretary-General who will take over in January next year.

Top UN officials will no longer be forced to return funds that “too often, it is never even accepted at all.”

Note the level of delinquency

The UN ended 2025 with a record outstanding assessment of $1.6 billion, according to the latest Secretary-General report on the Organization’s financial status, issued last month.

The overall arrears of the regular budget, peacekeeping and the two international courts exceed $6.5 billion.

At the start of this year, the UN implemented strict cash conservation measures to reduce and slow spending.

“The Secretary-General has called on member states to honor their obligations to pay in full and on time or fundamentally overhaul the organization’s financial regulations to prevent imminent collapse,” the report said.

paralysed

As of Tuesday evening, financial regulations, established 80 years ago, required the UN to return unspent funds to Member States as credit against future assessments.

This applies even when underspending is caused by late contributions or funds that were never received.

Annalena Baerbock, that is President of the General Assemblyraised this issue an address to the European Parliament in February.

Highlighting the “existential liquidity crisis” the UN is experiencing, he urged European countries “to do this table proposals for overhauling these Kafkaesque financial rules reimbursement of funds never received.”

A broader message

In her response to the vote, Ms. Baerbock said: “With this important resolution, the General Assembly averts an imminent financial collapse of the United Nations and modernizes 75 years of outdated financial regulations that have undermined the organization’s financial stability for too long.”

He said it also sent”a broader message that in fragmented times, UN General Assembly Member States can unite to take decisive action.”