The UN, in lack of money, is preparing to save money

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Thursday that his organization was suffering from a lack of cash, stating in a message to his officials to prepare measures of economy.

This lack is caused mainly by by the fact that member states do not pay on time what they owe, according to the UN boss, who called on these countries to accelerate the payment of their contribution to the UN budget.

"Our cash flow problems have never been so precocious and the general trend is worrisome: we are short of money and we stay in the red longer" wrote Antonio Guterres in his message broadcast on the UN internal website

"An organization like ours should not have to go through repeated bankruptcies. But the greatest suffering is surely felt by those we serve when, due to lack of funds, we can not answer their call for help.

The United Nations has two budgets: an operating budget, adopted in December, of $ 5.4 billion over two years; and one for peace operations, adopted in June, of $ 6.7 billion over 12 months.

Usual delays

According to the United Nations, the practice of paying late its financial obligations, defined by distribution keys among the 193 UN members is common. But this year, the financial difficulty comes earlier than in previous years, according to the same source, without identifying the precise source of the problem.

112 countries were up to date with their contributions in July. The list does not include the United States, the largest contributor (22%) of the United Nations operating budget.

Japan, China, Germany and France, which are behind the United States in the United States. list of contributors to the United Nations, all have paid their contributions.

At the end of June 2018, $ 1.5 billion had been disbursed by Member States, some 200 million less than at the same time last year

"We are going to need to take steps to reduce costs, first targeting those who are not tied to the payment of wages." Antonio Guterres said.