According to a report by the Associated Press on August 21, the U.S. government has informed Congress that it plans to pay $850 million to the United Nations to settle part of the fees and other payments that the United States owes to the United Nations.
The United States Department of State disclosed in a notice sent to Congress members that the U.S. government plans to allocate $725 million for paying UN contributions, and $125 million to support UN peacekeeping operations in Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This will be the largest amount of money paid to the United Nations since the Trump administration requested reforms at the UN.
As of now, the U.S. Permanent Mission to the United Nations has not responded to this news.
The United Nations Building in New York, USA
The amount of contributions that each member state of the United Nations must pay each year is determined by the United Nations General Assembly based on the principle of capacity to pay. As the world's largest economy, the United States has the highest proportion of its contributions, accounting for 22% of the total fees paid by the United Nations. However, the United States has been delaying payment of these fees for years, which has exacerbated the financial difficulties faced by the United Nations.
According to the Associated Press, the United States is currently in arrears with the total amount of contributions to the United Nations, which is approximately $5 billion. This amount includes $2 billion for the regular budget and $3 billion for peacekeeping operations.
On January 30th this year, Haque, the deputy spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Guterres, stated that Guterres had sent a letter to all United Nations member states, warning them of the “real risk of financial depletion” faced by the United Nations. Reports suggest that this statement was clearly directed at the United States. After Guterres’ message, the Trump administration paid $160 million to the United Nations in February.
