Monitoring Policy Making at the United Nations |
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UN Ends January in Tough Spot Financially (31 January 1998) News Bulletin (31 January 1998)
UN Ends January in Tough Spot Financially
January thirty-first marks a crucial threashold each year. By that date, according to rules long-ago adopted, member states must have paid their annual dues assessments -- in full and without condition. But this January, as the UN struggles under a huge debt owed by the United states, other member states have not been paying their dues in a timely fashion. This year, only 27 members (out of 185) had paid their dues by the end of January.Four of the five Permanent Members of the Security Council failed to pay on time. France was the only exception. As always, a few reliable members paid on time, including such major payers as Australia, Canada, Netherlands and Sweden. The United States failed to make a catch-up payment in January as it did in 1997. The net result was that the UN's income on its regular budget account fell from $405 million in 1997 to $279 million in 1998. For an organization on the brink of bankruptcy, that was serious slippage.
For all the disappointing performance of other members, the main focus of concern remains Washington, where the Clinton administration is preparing to release a supplemental budget request to Congress containing a proposal for partial arrears payments. According to well-informed sources, that proposal will come up with only about half the sums owed, will propose paying them over a three-year period, and will retain many of the conditions originally embedded in the Helms-Biden agreement of last year.
Congressional conservatives can be expected to continue to block passage of this legislation, but questions remain about the commitment of the administration to the goal of paying the UN arrears and additional questions are raised about the administration's capacity for influence at this time. Observers have noted in the past that the administration has never made a serious effort to lobby congress on the UN payment. In addition, with the President caught up in a major scandal, there is doubt about his ability to sway Congress or to achieve any major policy objectives where conflict with Congressional Republicans is involved.
At UN headquarters, as January comes to a close, the mood is grim. High officials are again warning -- as they did in late 1995 -- that the UN may not be able to survive much longer unless something happens soon to end the financial impasse.
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