Financial situation of the United Nations

The Secretary-General reports on the financial situation of the United Nations twice a year under the agenda item "Improving the financial situation of the United Nations".

Reports and presentations
The Fifth Committee considers the regular reports of the Secretary-General and receives closed briefings from the Secretariat on the status of contributions under the regular budget and peacekeeping budgets and the cash flow situation of the Secretariat. This biannual briefing takes place early in the main and second resumed sessions. The briefing is followed one week later by general discussion during which delegations have the opportunity to make statements on the financial situation.

Financial crises
At times, exceptional measures have had to be taken to address cash shortfalls resulting from unpaid assessments. Some of the most notable financial crises are described below.

In the 1960s, disagreements over the legal obligation to finance peacekeeping missions prompted a request for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the interpretation of Article 17 of the United Nations Charter (see Certain Expenses of the United Nations) ; the adoption of resolution 2006(XIX) establishing the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, with a mandate "to undertake as soon as possible a comprehensive review of the whole question of peace-keeping operations in all their aspects, including ways of overcoming the present financial difficulties of the Organization"; and the creation of a special account to record voluntary contributions pursuant to paragraph 4 of resolution 2053A (XX).

In the 1970s, a dire cash liquidity situation prompted the General Assembly to establish a Special Committee on the Financial Situation of the United Nations. Following its consideration of the report of the Special Committee, the General Assembly adopted resolution 3049A (XXVII) which established a special account—to be merged with the special account previously established—to address, through voluntary contributions, past financial difficulties and the short-term deficit.

In the 1980s, the United States, under the Reagan Administration, began the practice of "deferred payment" in which the contributions for a particular calendar year would be met by funds requested for following fiscal year. In addition, the adoption of U.S. legislation popularly known as the Kassebaum-Solomon Amendment in the mid-1980s required the reduction of the United States contribution to the regular budget to be reduced to 20 per cent unless major financial contributors such as the United States were afforded a greater say in the budget process. The Secretary-General adopted a number of measures to address the expected cash shortfall, including a hiring freeze. In parallel, the General Assembly adopted resolution 40/237 of 18 December 1985 establishing the Group of High-Level Intergovernmental Experts (popularly known as the Group of 18), which issued a report (A/41/49) which led to the adoption of resolution 41/213, which in turn led to the introduction of consensus-based decision-making in the Fifth Committee.

In the mid-1990s, late payment of assessments and the peacekeeping budget process also contributed to a precarious financial situation, with $3.7 billion in unpaid assessments in 1994. This prompted the Secretary-General to take a number of unilateral measures, including another hiring freeze, suspension of new consultancies, and limitations to overtime and travel. Following an appeal by the Secretary-General to the General Assembly, the General Assembly adopted resolution 49/143 establishing a High-level Open-ended Working Group on the Financial Situation of the United Nations. The General Assembly also adopted resolution 49/233 on 23 December 1994 which, inter alia, changed the process for consideration of peacekeeping budgets and established the current 1 July-30 June peacekeeping financial period.

In the late 2010s, deepening liquidity problems and cash constraints prompted the Secretary-General to submit proposals to the General Assembly to address the challenges faced in both the regular and peacekeeping budgets in an additional report on the financial situation (A/73/809).