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UN faces deepening financial crisis, urges members to pay up

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With a growing shortfall in contributions – $2.4 billion in unpaid regular budget dues and $2.7 billion in peacekeeping – the UN has been forced to cut spending, freeze hiring, and scale back some services.

Officials warned that this risks eroding the UN’s credibility and its capacity to fulfil mandates entrusted to it by Member States.

Switzerland, speaking also on behalf of Liechtenstein, said the issue goes beyond accounting. “Each delay in payment, each hiring freeze, each cancelled service chips away at trust in our ability to deliver,” the delegate said.

Retain unspent funds as ‘protective buffer’

One proposed solution is to allow the UN to temporarily keep unspent funds at year’s end, instead of returning them to Member States as credits. Currently, this return is mandatory – even if the funds arrive late in the year, giving the UN little time to spend them.

The suggested change would act as a buffer to keep operations running, particularly in January when payments tend to lag.

Delegates also backed limited use of “special commitments” — emergency funding tools — early in the year to bridge gaps caused by delayed contributions.

While these fixes may help, several speakers, including those from Kazakhstan, Norway, and the United Kingdom, emphasized that the root cause is the continued late or non-payment of dues.

Norway noted such temporary measures won’t solve the underlying problem and urged Member States to support bold financial reforms.

‘Real operational risks’

The European Union stressed that the crisis is not abstract. “These are real operational risks,” its delegate said, adding that the burden cannot fall solely on countries that pay on time.

Singapore, speaking for the Southeast Asian group of nations, ASEAN, echoed concern that the UN’s liquidity problems have become routine.

He cited the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific’s (ESCAP) need to shut its offices for three months and suspend travel and hiring.

Particularly troubling to many was the fact that one country – unnamed in the meeting but widely known to be the United States – is responsible for over half of all unpaid dues, reportedly withholding funds for political reasons.

Russia called for more transparency in how the UN manages cash-saving measures, cautioning against actions taken without Member State input.

Paying dues

Catherine Pollard, the UN’s top management official, noted that since 9 May, a handful of countries have paid in full across several budget categories, while the number of nations who have paid in full for the regular budget stands at 106 for the year.

Still, with only 61 countries having met all their obligations in full, the message from Member States was clear: without broad, timely financial support, the UN’s ability to serve the world – especially in times of crisis – is at serious risk.

For full coverage of all meetings at the General Assembly, Security Council and elsewhere at UN Headquarters please visit our Meetings Coverage Section here. You can find the full report on this meeting, here.  

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Absent faces, destroyed homes – young students paint the pain of Gaza

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Their paintings and drawings range from a portrait of an esteemed Palestinian poet and family members killed in conflict, to a sky blackened by thick smoke – and a child crying in front of his mother’s corpse.

The poignant images are currently on display at UNRWA’s Remal School in Gaza City, which has been transformed into a shelter.

Remembrance and loss

The exhibition provides an opportunity for the children and young people to express and discuss their feelings after nearly 18 months of war.

Fatima al-Za’anin, who was displaced from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, cried as she spoke about her artwork. “I painted the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, I drew mama, baba, my sister and my grandfather,” she said.

Fatima stopped talking to cry once more and turned to a small pencil drawing peppered with red spots. “I drew martyrs’ bodies that were torn to pieces,” she explained.

She pointed to another drawing of a boy called Mohammed “who wished he had one person left in his family, but there was no one left,” she said. “I painted a child who lamented his mother, whom he had lost.”

A specialist from the UNRWA Psychological Support Centre stood beside Fatima and praised her courage in expressing her feelings.

17 year-old Na’emat Haboob, the sole survivor of her family and displaced from Jabalia Camp, stands beside her artwork—a moving tribute to her mother, who was killed in the war.

Praying for comfort

Na’emat Haboob, a 17-year-old student, touched one of her paintings as she spoke about it. The image is of the face of her mother, who was killed in the war. 

“This is mama’s painting.  Thank God I could draw it while I’m trying to get over losing her.  I hope everyone will pray for her.” 

Na’emat continued to run her fingers over the painting as if she wanted to touch her mother’s face and said: “May God grant me comfort for losing her and my siblings.”

May God grant me comfort for losing her and my siblings

She credited the mental health team at the Remal shelter for their support, saying it gave her the strength to turn her pain into art. 

Her grief welled up again and she was unable to go on. Comforted by a hug from the counsellor, she was able to continue, saying the psychological support she receives at the shelter enables her to keep studying. 

“I seek to develop my talents after what I’ve been through during the war,” she said. “I want to try hard to be what my mother wished for me.”

Malak Fayad, a displaced from Beit Hanoun (Gaza) shares the meaning behind her artwork with fellow displaced visitors, using art as a way to express her experiences, resilience, and hope amid the devastation of war.

Lives transformed, hopes destroyed

Another student, Malak Fayyad, stood in front of her colourful paintings. One depicts the clear blue sky and sea of Gaza, showing birds, trees and landscapes. It is a copy of a work she had previously painted which hung proudly on a wall in her family’s home. 

But the house was destroyed along with all their belongings, including the painting.

“I painted it again to remember Gaza as it was, and next to it another painting clouded by black smoke from weapons,” Malak said, before highlighting other works she created, including one which “shows how our lives have been transformed after the destruction and bombing.”

Another of her paintings depicts a Palestinian man who appears to be carrying a bag in the form of a house. She said it “shows that the Palestinian always carries with him the Palestinian cause, even when he is displaced and forced to leave his home.”

The war in Gaza has destroyed hopes of a better future, according to another young artist, Malak Abu Odeh.  

“Not only displacement and destruction, but the war has taken away from us our dearest people, our relatives and loved ones,” she said.

“We’re not well, but I would like to thank the mental health team who are trying to entertain us, help us and support us.”

Commitment to deliver

UNRWA continues to provide psychosocial support services across the Gaza Strip. The agency said its teams responded to around 3,000 cases between 21 and 27 April. 

This support included individual counselling, awareness-raising sessions and response to gender-based violence cases in its health centres, medical points and shelters. 

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Security Council urged to stand firm as Bosnia and Herzegovina faces deepening crisis

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High Representative Christian Schmidt briefed on latest developments surrounding implementation of the 1995 General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which ended more than three years of bloodshed and genocide following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.

The accord, also known as the Dayton Peace Agreement, established a new constitution and created two entities within the country: the mainly Bosniak and Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the ethnically Serb Republika Srpska.

Constitutional order under attack

Mr. Schmidt – who’s key role is overseeing implementation of the 1995 agreement – said conditions for the full implementation of the civilian aspects of the deal have vastly deteriorated.

“The first quarter of this year was marked by a significant rise of tensions, which without question amounts to an extraordinary crisis in the country since the signing of the Dayton Agreement,” he said.

“I may underline that I see a political crisis. I do not yet have indications for a security crisis.”

The sudden deterioration stems from reactions following the 26 February conviction of Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik for failing to enforce the decisions of the High Representative. 

He was sentenced to one year in prison and banned from political office for six years but has appealed the decision.

“After the verdict, Mr. Dodik intensified his attacks on the constitutional order of the country by directing the authorities of the Republika Srpska to adopt legislation that effectively bans State-level judiciary and State-level law enforcement in the Republika Srpska and by even putting on the table a draft Entity constitution, hinting at de facto secession,” said Mr. Schmidt.

He told the Council that given the speed with which the draft laws and constitution were made public strongly suggests that they had been prepared well in advance.

Christian Schmidt, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, briefs members of UN the Security Council on the situation in the country.

Fears of disintegration

He said these acts and legislation fundamentally contradict the implementation of the Dayton Accords and “endanger the territorial and societal integrity of the country and of its peoples by performing secessionist acts.”

Furthermore, “they also create legal and executive insecurity by establishing Entity laws and institutions that contradict and compete with State law and competence.” 

He stressed that “it will require institutions created in Dayton, such as the Constitutional Court, to prevent this country from falling apart, and when it comes to safeguarding the functionality of the State, my legal competencies as High Representative as well.”

As a result, the State-level coalition has been seriously affected, momentum towards European Union (EU) accession has stalled and the functionality of the State is being undermined, while reforms have been sidelined. 

“This development is not irreversible, but it is severe,” he warned.  “It needs to be addressed without delay, it requires active engagement by the international community.”

Communities shun extremism

The High Representative noted that the Serb community “did not pay heed to Mr. Dodik’s unlawful directives.” For example, although ethnic Serbs working in State-level institutions have been pressured to abandon their posts, “these calls and threats have been left overwhelmingly unanswered.”

Meanwhile, the Bosniak community “has been able to remain calm despite the tensions and to continue on the path of patient dialogue also in order to keep the country’s European integration on the table.”

He also noticed “a continuing pro-European commitment” on the part of the Croat community, “as well as an increased willingness to engage in inter-ethnic dialogue, including in local disputes.” 

Mr. Schmidt was adamant that the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina can and do live together.

“For the most part, the communities in the country do not support extremism or secessionism,” he said. “There is ample evidence for that in daily life, but ethnocentric politics spends too much time on dividing the communities rather than uniting them.”

Peace accord remains crucial

While the country is facing complex and varied challenges, he said the current extraordinary crisis is the result of severe attacks against the Dayton Agreement “encompassing the constitutional and legal order” and has nothing to do with the peace deal itself.

“Bosnia and Herzegovina is facing difficult times. Nobody would have expected 30 years ago that the international community is needed as much today as it is,” he said.

“But the Peace Agreement that this UN Security Council endorsed 30 years ago remains the very foundation on which the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina with its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence can be built.”

Although reopening or redefining Dayton challenges the basis for peace and prosperity in the country, “this does not mean we should not talk about necessary amendments and adoptions of this constitution,” he said.

Attacks threaten ‘very foundation’

“The way forward includes countering threats and attacks to its very foundation, but also implementing meaningful reforms, including in the context of the country’s European integration,” he continued.

“It is about strengthening institutional stability and functionality of the State and continuing to reinforce election integrity in view of the country’s general elections in 2026.”  

Mr. Schmidt concluded his remarks by urging the international community to continue to support and assist the country and the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina to shape their future and to reassure the population that they have not been forgotten.   

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