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1 1 (December 19, 2025)

handle is hein.crs/govetan0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con res&on 1 Re earth Bent iribu ing Lc~ Iativ d~aL 01914 Updated December 19, 2025 United Nations Issues: U.S. Funding to the UN System Congress is responsible for authorizing and appropriating funding to the United Nations (UN) system. Since the United Nations was founded in 1945, the United States has historically been the single largest financial contributor. The current status of U.S. funding to many UN bodies remains unclear; in February 2025, President Trump ordered a review (still pending) of U.S. participation in and funding of international organizations (IOs), and has since withdrawn the United States from several UN entities. The President's U.S. FY2026 budget request would eliminate funding to most UN bodies, including the UN regular budget and UN peacekeeping operations. The Administration has also delayed or halted some payments to UN entities and requested recission of selected UN funding previously enacted by Congress. UN Background and Fundng Broadly, the UN system comprises interconnected entities, including the United Nations, UN specialized agencies, UN funds and programs, and UN peacekeeping operations. The UN Charter, a treaty ratified by the United States in 1945, requires each member to contribute to the expenses of the organization. UN members may lose their vote in the 193- member General Assembly if they accumulate arrears (outstanding balances) equal to or exceeding the amount of contributions due in the previous two years. Types of Funding. The UN system is financed primarily by two types of contributions. Assessed contributions are required dues, the payment of which is a legal obligation accepted by a country when it becomes a member. Such funding provides UN entities with a regular income to pay for staff and implement core programs. The UN regular budget, specialized agencies, and peacekeeping operations are all financed mainly by assessed funding. Voluntary contributions are provided to any UN entity at the discretion of governments, and primarily fund certain UN funds and programs, such as the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program (WFP). UN Regular Budget. The UN regular budget funds the core costs of the organization, including the UN General Assembly, Security Council, and Secretariat. It is adopted by the General Assembly and covers one UN fiscal year (January 1-December 31). Most budget-related Assembly decisions are adopted by consensus; when such votes occur (which is rare), decisions are made by a two-thirds majority. The Assembly determines a regular budget scale of assessments every three years based on a country's capacity to pay. The United States is assessed 22% of the budget, followed by China (20.0%) and Japan (6.9%). For 2026, UN Secretary-General (UNSG) Ant6nio Guterres proposed a revised regular budget of $3.24 billion. The proposed budget would represent a 15% decrease from the 2025 funding level of $3.72 billion. UN Specialized Agencies. The 15 UN specialized agencies, which include the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization (WHO), among others, are autonomous in executive, legislative, and budgetary powers. Some agencies follow the scale of assessment for the UN regular budget, while others use their own formulas to determine assessments. The United States is a member of 12 of the 15 UN specialized agencies. The Trump Administration has initiated the one-year withdrawal process from WHO and withdrawn the United States from the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UN Peacekeeping Funding. There are 11 UN peacekeeping missions worldwide with over 60,000 personnel. The UN Security Council establishes and/or renews each operation, and the UN General Assembly approves the UN peacekeeping budget. The peacekeeping scale of assessments is based on modifications of the UN regular budget scale, with the five permanent council members assessed at a higher level than for the regular budget. The U.S. peacekeeping assessment is 26.15%; however, in 1994 Congress capped the U.S. contribution at 25%. China (23.78%) and Japan (6.93%) have the next highest assessment rates. The 2025-2026 UN peacekeeping budget (with a fiscal year of July 1-June 30) is $5.4 billion. In October 2025, the UNSG requested that all peacekeeping missions reduce expenditures by 15% to address budget shortfalls (see below text box) and repatriate 25% of uniformed personnel. UN Budget Shortfalls For nearly a decade, both the UN regular and peacekeeping budgets have periodically experienced funding shortfalls, including a liquidity crisis the UNSG has attributed to delayed or nonpayments from certain UN members (primarily the United States and at times China). In 2019 and 2022, the General Assembly adopted several budgeting reforms; however, liquidity issues remain. In May and October 2025, the UNSG stated that the United Nations will be on a path to bankruptcy if UN members do not pay their dues in full and on time. He proposed cuts to UN staff, the aforementioned reductions to UN peacekeeping, and additional financial reforms. Some of these proposals are currently being considered by the General Assembly. US. Funding Mechan srs U.S. funding to the United Nations is authorized under the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 (P.L. 79-264, as amended). Funding authorizations for certain UN bodies are also included in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (P.L. 87-195, as amended). Congress has historically appropriated both assessed and voluntary UN funding in annual Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) Appropriations Acts (in the