By The United Nations is confronting what Secretary-General António Guterres describes as a potentially catastrophic financial crisis, warning member states that the organization could face “imminent financial collapse” as early as July if funding shortfalls are not addressed.
In a letter sent to the U.N.’s 193 member states, Guterres said unpaid assessed contributions have reached unprecedented levels, leaving the organization unable to reliably operate. He characterized the situation as “categorically different” from previous crises, noting that some countries have formally declared they will not pay their mandatory dues, which fund much of the U.N.’s regular budget.
According to Guterres, 2025 closed with unpaid dues equal to 77 percent of the total assessed contributions owed to the organization. The shortfall has been compounded by U.N. financial rules requiring the refund of unused program funds to member states—even when those funds were never received. As a result, the U.N. was forced this month to return $227 million as part of the 2026 assessment process. “We cannot execute budgets with uncollected funds, nor return funds we never received,” Guterres wrote, warning that the “integrity of the entire system” depends on compliance with obligations under the U.N. Charter.
The crisis has been intensified by actions taken by the United States, historically the U.N.’s largest contributor. Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. withheld full payment to the U.N.’s regular budget in 2025 and provided only 30 percent of expected peacekeeping funds. In January 2026, the administration withdrew from 31 U.N. agencies, arguing they advance “globalist agendas” at odds with U.S. priorities and misuse taxpayer dollars, reported CNN.
Those withdrawals followed additional exits, including from the World Health Organization last week, despite WHO lawyers asserting that the United States remains legally obligated to pay outstanding dues. U.S. humanitarian assistance has also fallen sharply, declining from $17 billion in 2022 to a $2 billion pledge in late 2025. Administration officials have warned that the U.N. must “adapt or die.”
Conservative policy groups, including the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute, have long defended these funding cuts as necessary responses to what they describe as systemic failures within the U.N. Critics argue the organization exhibits persistent anti-American and anti-Israel bias, shields human rights abusers on bodies such as the Human Rights Council, and prioritizes agendas misaligned with U.S. interests, including progressive positions on climate and gender policy.
The Heritage Foundation has repeatedly cited what it views as the Human Rights Council’s disproportionate focus on condemning Israel while including authoritarian regimes among its members, along with its failure to address abuses in countries such as China and North Korea. Supporters of the U.S. pullback argue that, despite covering roughly a quarter or more of the U.N.’s budget, the United States frequently faces criticism from the organization and receives limited tangible returns on its investment.
Meanwhile, the financial strain is increasingly visible across U.N. operations. At headquarters in Geneva, escalators have been shut down and heating reduced to conserve funds. Humanitarian programs have also been curtailed. The human rights office lacks resources to deploy investigators to document abuses that could support war-crimes prosecutions. UN Women has closed maternal health clinics in Afghanistan, and the World Food Programme has reduced rations for Sudanese refugees.
Other major donors, including the United Kingdom and Germany, have also cut foreign aid, further tightening the U.N.’s finances. Although limited changes to financial rules were approved in late 2025, they have not resolved the underlying cash-flow crisis.
Guterres has previously warned that the organization is engaged in a “race to bankruptcy.” His latest letter presents member states with a stark ultimatum: pay assessed contributions in full and on time, or fundamentally restructure the U.N.’s financial system to prevent collapse.
[Read More: DHS Offering Huge Pay Day To Some Illegal Immigrants]
