(Note: A full summary of today's Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) meeting will be made available upon completion.)
Warning of the risk of bankruptcy amid shrinking resources and growing needs, the United Nations chief today briefed the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) on the Organization’s proposed budget for 2026, outlining the funding and staffing required to maintain peace and security, protect human rights, advance sustainable development and achieve other key objectives.
Secretary-General António Guterres explained both his initial programme budget proposal (document A/80/6) and subsequent revisions, including cuts of $577 million (15 per cent) and 2,681 posts (19 per cent).
“The revised estimates do not replace the proposed programme budget,” he said, adding: “Rather, they introduce targeted adjustments to specific areas. In practical terms, these affect about 15 per cent of the resource requirements — while 85 per cent of the proposed resources in the initial proposal remain indispensable.”
He also highlighted the UN’s cash-flow challenges, which occur when Member States do not pay their mandatory contributions on time or in full. The situation is further complicated by unspent funds, often resulting from payments arriving too late in the fiscal year. Under the UN’s Financial Regulations, any unspent money at the end of a budget period must be returned to Member States as credits against future assessments, meaning the Organization cannot simply retain leftover funds to cover future shortfalls.
“We will again spend less than the budget in 2026 because we did not collect enough,” he said, warning that the Organization’s regular operations could collapse. The UN could also face the prospect of returning $600 million — potentially 20 per cent of the budget — in 2027. “That means a race to bankruptcy,” he added.
In that regard, he once again proposed that the General Assembly temporarily suspend the return of credits against the 2026 assessment. “Failure to reach an agreement on addressing the deteriorating liquidity situation could jeopardize critical elements of our programme of work,” he stressed.
$3.72 billion Budget Reflects Priorities Set by General Assembly
Providing more details on the initial proposal, he said that it reflects “the priorities set by the General Assembly and lay the foundation for bold, efficient proposals for next year — and beyond”. It amounts to $3.72 billion, slightly below the 2025 approved budget. It includes funding for 37 special political missions. The budget provides for 14,275 posts and supports the UN’s three pillars — peace and security, development and human rights — in a balanced manner.
Key allocations include maintaining a $53 million commitment for the resident coordinator system and a $50 million grant for the Peacebuilding Fund. An additional $2 million is proposed for the regular programme of technical cooperation to fund a harmonized fellowship programme across the five regional commissions, a 60 per cent increase since 2019. The budget also strengthens the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights’ (OHCHR) regional presence in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Dakar, Panama City, Pretoria and Vienna, consistent with Member States’ requests under the Pact for the Future.
Pragmatic Response to Evolving Fiscal Realities, Member States’ Expectations
He said that, following the initial programme budget proposal, the Secretariat conducted a comprehensive review of its resource requirements for 2026 — a process that resulted in the revised estimates, which are now under consideration by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ).
“The revised estimates report is a pragmatic response to evolving fiscal realities and Member States’ expectations,” he said.
The proposed budget is $3.238 billion, a reduction of $577 million (15.1 per cent) compared with 2025, with 11,594 posts, including special political missions, down 2,681 posts (18.8 per cent). Despite these substantial reductions, the budget maintains balance across the UN’s three pillars — peace and security, development, and human rights — while protecting programmes that directly support Member States, particularly least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, small island developing States and Africa’s development.
The reductions are targeted at larger Secretariat departments and focus on resource optimization, streamlining administrative services, consolidating functions, reducing overlap and exploring lower-cost delivery models. Initial proposals from the first workstream of the UN80 Initiative are included, such as creating common administrative platforms in New York and Bangkok, consolidating payroll processing into a single global team, and reviewing functions to identify those that could be performed effectively in lower-cost duty stations.
He also detailed the financial situation the Organization is currently facing. (See Press Release GA/AB/4504 for our recent coverage of this topic).
UN80 Initiative Must Enhance Cooperation, Avoid Duplication
Juliana Gaspar Ruas (Brazil), Chair of Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) presented the body’s report on the proposed programme budget for 2026 (document A/80/7). She noted that initial UN80-related recommendations could not be incorporated into the submission and would appear in revised estimates later. Excluding these additional proposals, the 2026 budget of $3.715 billion represents a decrease of $99 million (2.6 per cent) compared with 2025. The 10,667 posts proposed for the regular budget, excluding special political missions, reflect a net increase of 134 posts (1.3 per cent) over 2025. ACABQ deferred consideration of most post-related proposals pending revised estimates under UN80, except for proposed abolishments, she noted.
She emphasized closing gaps in specific areas, particularly in geographical representation, urging the Secretary-General to intensify efforts to achieve more equitable staffing from unrepresented or underrepresented Member States. It called for careful review of high-level posts to minimize overlap and recommended raising workload standards for documentation staff by 20 per cent in light of technological improvements. ACABQ expects the UN80 Initiative to enhance cooperation, avoid duplication in the development pillar and enable OHCHR to review mandates, capacities, expenditures and workloads for greater efficiency and transparency. For global communications, it encouraged a holistic assessment of operating locations, staffing and resource allocation to modernize and optimize UN information centres.
Eight Priorities for 2026-2028
Jesús Velázquez Castillo, Vice-Chair of the Committee for Programme and Coordination, introduced the report (document A/80/16) of its sixty-fifth session, held from 12 May to 13 June. The Committee reviewed the draft plan for the 2026–2028 period and recommended that the General Assembly approve eight priorities. These include promotion of sustained economic growth and sustainable development in accordance with relevant General Assembly resolutions and recent United Nations conferences; maintenance of international peace and security; development of Africa; promotion of human rights; and effective coordination of humanitarian assistance activities. The remaining priorities are promotion of justice and international law; disarmament; and drug control, crime prevention and combating international terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
The Committee also reviewed 28 programmes from the proposed programme budget for 2026 and made specific recommendations on 2 programmes — General Assembly and Economic and Social Council affairs and conference management, as well as jointly financed activities. It recommended that the Assembly plenary or relevant Main Committees examine the plans for 24 programmes and take no action on 2 programmes, namely, peaceful uses of outer space and economic and social affairs.
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