Programme budget
The programme budget, or regular budget, is the budget of the United Nations prepared by the Secretary-General in his capacity as chief administrative officer of the Organization[1] and approved by the General Assembly[2]. It does not cover the expenses of large peacekeeping missions funded through separate special accounts. The appropriation for the approved budget is apportioned amongst Member States on the basis of the scale of assessments.
The Dag Hammarskjöld Library has an excellent guide to the programme budget and the many different documents and intergovernmental bodies involved in the budget process: UN Documentation: Regular Budget
Budget period
The programme budget runs from 1 January to 31 December, unlike peacekeeping budgets, which run from 1 July to 30 June.
The budget was originally produced and approved on an annual basis. In General Assembly resolution 3043 (XXVII) of 19 December 1972, the General Assembly approved, "on an experimental basis" the move to a biennial (two-year) budget. The first biennial budget, covering calendar years 1974 and 1975, was approved in General Assembly resolution 3199 (XXVIII) of 18 December 1973. As part of the management reform, the General Assembly approved "the proposed change from a biennial to an annual budget period on a trial basis, beginning with the programme budget for 2020", in its resolution 72/266 of 24 December 2017.
Budget structure
The programme budget is divided into parts corresponding to the broad categorization of activities performed by the United Nations. Each part is subdivided into one or more sections, which in turn are subdivided into the budgets for individual entities (e.g. departments and offices). For example, Part II of the 2020 programme budget is divided as follows:
- Part II: Political affairs
- Section 3: Political affairs
- I. Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs
- II. Special political missions
- III. Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process
- IV. United Nations Register of Damage
- V. United Nations Office to the African Union
- V. Office of Counter-Terrorism
- Section 4: Disarmament
- Section 5: Peacekeeping operations
- I. Department of Peace Operations
- II. United Nations Truce Supervision Organization
- III. United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan
- Section 6: Peaceful uses of outer space
- Section 3: Political affairs
- Part II: Political affairs
The programme budget is also presented on the basis of different types of expenses, which are referred to as objects of expenditure, as follows:
- Posts
- Other staff costs
- Non-staff compensation
- Consultants
- Experts
- Travel of representatives
- Travel of staff
- Contractual services
- General operating expenses
- Hospitality
- Supplies and materials
- Furniture and equipment
- Improvement of premises
- Grants and contributions
Budget process
The regulations and rules that govern the budget are the Regulations and Rules Governing Programme Planning and the Financial Regulations and Rules.
Relevant reports on the current annual budget process:
- A/74/852 Shifting the management paradigm in the United Nations: Budgetary procedures and practices
- A/75/6 (Introduction) Proposed programme budget for 2021: Forward and introduction (see section A: Methodology and Format)
Approved budgets
The approved annual budgets under the process approved in General Assembly resolution 72/266A are as follows:
- A/74/6/Add.1 Programme budget for 2020
Approved levels
The basis of assessment for recent calendar years, reflecting the approved level of the budget and all add-ons, is reflected below.