Guterres Warns as Global Body UN Faces Deepening Financial Crisis

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the international body is on the verge of “imminent financial collapse” as member nations fall behind on annual contributions and structural funding problems worsen.

Guterres recently sent a letter to all UN member countries

Guterres recently sent a letter to all UN member countries, warning of a severe financial crisis and urging governments to either reform budgetary rules or face “the very real prospect of the financial collapse of our Organization,” according to Al Jazeera. He also called on countries to pay their outstanding debts.

The threat was made public during a Friday afternoon briefing, when a UN spokeswoman was asked about the letter and replied, “When it comes to paying, it’s now or never.”

Speaking to reporters about the organization’s financial vulnerability, spokesperson Farhan Haq stated, “We do not have the sort of cash reserves and liquidity to keep functioning as we’ve done in previous years – and this is something that the secretary-general has warned about with increasing strength each year.”

While Guterres did not name any specific countries, the request comes at a time when US President Donald Trump has pushed to reduce Washington’s financial assistance for multilateral institutions. His administration has declared plans to withdraw from many UN institutions, as well as promoting what Trump refers to as the “Board of Peace” program.

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Against this backdrop, Al Jazeera noted that some experts believe the project is intended to marginalize the United Nations.

In response to the idea, Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch, stated, “Trump’s board appears to be a kind of pay-to-play, global club, judging from the USD 1 billion fee for permanent membership.”

He further stated, “Instead of handing Trump USD 1 billion checks, governments should work together to protect the UN and other institutions established to uphold international human rights and humanitarian law, the global rule of law, and accountability.”

He reiterated the need for reform, saying, “Either all Member States honor their obligations to pay in full and on time – or Member States must fundamentally overhaul our financial rules to prevent an imminent financial collapse,” as reported by Al Jazeera.

Despite mounting financial strains, the UN approved a USD 3.45 billion budget for 2026, a 7% fall from the previous year as the organization strives to cut spending.

However, despite these cost-cutting measures, Guterres warned in his letter that the UN’s cash reserves could be depleted by July.

He also referred to an antiquated law that forces the organization to refund hundreds of millions of dollars in unused funding to member governments each year.

Guterres emphasized the significance of this mechanism, saying, as reported by Al Jazeera, “In other words, we are trapped in a Kafkaesque cycle expected to give back cash that does not exist.”

According to numbers published on the organisation’s website, as of Thursday, only 36 of the UN’s 193 member countries have fully paid their regular 2026 contributions.