Pay your dues - UN tells govts amid near decade worst cash crisis -

The United Nations says it is facing a severe shortage of cash.

Consequently, the world body has called on more governments to pay their annual dues.

“Our work and our reforms are at risk”, the UN chief António Guterres told Member States on Tuesday.

The Secretary-General said he had written to Member States “about the worst cash crisis facing the United Nations in nearly a decade”.

“The Organization runs the risk of depleting its liquidity reserves by the end of the month and defaulting on payments to staff and vendors.”

UN disclosed that 129 States out of 193 have paid their regular annual dues, the most recent being Syria.

As of the end of September, only 70 per cent of the total assessment for the year had been paid; 78 per cent this time last year.

And as at October 8th, Member States have paid $1.99 billion towards the regular budget assessment for 2019, leaving an outstanding amount of around $1.3 billion for the year.

UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told correspondents in New York that others needed to pay “urgently and in full. This is the only way to avoid a default that could risk disrupting operations globally.

“The Secretary-General further asked governments to address the underlying reasons for the crisis and agree on measures to put the United Nations on a sound financial footing.

“To date, we have averted major disruptions to operations. But these measures are no longer enough.

“The Secretariat could face a default on salaries and payments for goods and services by the end of November unless more Member States pay their budget dues in full.

“The Secretary-General noted that this is a recurrent problem that severely hampers the Secretariat’s ability to fulfil its obligations to the people we serve.

“We are now driven to prioritize our work on the basis of the availability of cash, thus undermining the implementation of mandates decided by inter-governmental bodies.

“The Secretary-General, therefore, looks to Member States to resolve the structural issues that underlie this annual crisis without further delay”, Dujarric added.