United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that the organization faces “imminent financial collapse” due to unpaid member state dues and rigid budget rules, with cash potentially running out by July 2026.

Key points from reports:

• The UN ended 2025 with a record $1.568 billion in outstanding dues (more than double the prior year), with collections covering only about 76.7% of assessed contributions.
• The US, as the largest contributor (typically around 22% of the regular budget), owes billions—estimates include roughly $2.2 billion to the regular budget and additional amounts for peacekeeping (around $1.8–$1.88 billion for active missions).
• Contributing factors include unpaid mandatory dues, a rule requiring the UN to return unspent funds to members (creating a “Kafkaesque cycle” per Guterres), and cuts/withdrawals under Trump.
• In early January 2026, the US withdrew from dozens of international organizations, including 31 UN entities (e.g., certain agencies tied to climate, gender equality, and others deemed contrary to US interests or wasteful). This involved slashing voluntary funding and withholding or delaying some mandatory payments.
• Guterres urged members to pay in full and on time or overhaul financial rules to avert collapse, without directly naming the US in the letter, though context points heavily to it as the primary cause of the shortfall.
• Potential impacts: Threatened program delivery, possible closure of New York headquarters by August if unresolved, and risks to operations like peacekeeping and humanitarian aid.

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Antonio Guterres believes the organisation could run out of cash by July

The United Nations is on the brink of bankruptcy after Donald Trump cut funding, its secretary-general said. The Telegraph has the story.

Antonio Guterres said the organisation was at risk of “imminent financial collapse” and could run out of cash by July. Trump’s boycott leaves UN ‘on brink of bankruptcy’

He blamed unpaid fees and a budget rule that forces the global body to return unspent money, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Friday.

The UN has struggled for cash after the US – its largest contributor – cut voluntary funding to the body’s agencies and refused to make payments to its regular and peacekeeping budgets.

Earlier this month, Washington announced the US would withdraw and cease funding for 31 UN entities, including a climate treaty and body promoting gender equality.

Mr Guterres told Washington at the time that it had a legal obligation to pay its contributions to the budgets.

“The crisis is deepening, threatening programme delivery and risking financial collapse. And the situation will deteriorate further ‍in ‌the near future,” Mr Guterres wrote in a letter to ambassadors dated Jan 28.

“Decisions not to honour assessed contributions that finance a significant share ⁠of ‌the approved regular budget ‍have now been formally announced.”

It was not clear which members he was referring to, and a UN spokesman did not immediately respond to The Telegraph for comment.

Mr Guterres urged all member states to “honour their obligations to pay ‌in full and on time” or to “fundamentally overhaul our financial rules to prevent an imminent financial collapse”.

Read the full story here.