UN financial situation checked

A top UN official on Tuesday told reporters that the financial situation of the world body at the end of 2013 was "generally sound," but stressing unpaid assessments remain at a significant level and continue to be highly concentrated.

Yukio Takasu, the UN under-secretary-general for management, made the statement at a press conference after he briefed the Fifth Committee of the UN General Assembly, which is in charge of UN administrative and budgetary affairs.

"Financial situation at the end of 2013 was generally sound, although it was necessary to draw on regular budget cash reserves (both Working Capital Fund and Special Account) during the last months of the year," Takasu said. "While there was an increase in the number of member states paying in full for the regular budget in 2013, unpaid assessments remain at a significant level and continue to be highly concentrated."

According to Takasu, the number of member states which paid their assessments in full stood at 168 last year, 16 more than that during the previous year.

"The financial health of the Organization continues to depend on member states meeting their financial obligations in full and on time," he emphasized.

The main source of funds for the UN budget lies in the contribution of member states. These are assessed on a scale approved by the UN General Assembly on the recommendation of the Committee on Contributions, made up of 18 experts serving in their personal capacity and selected by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Fifth Committee.

The scale is based on the capacity of countries to pay. This is determined by considering their relative shares of total gross national product in the world as a whole, adjusted to take into account a number of factors, including per capital income.

The total unpaid assessments by Dec. 31, 2013 stood at 2,715 million U.S. dollars, and by April 30, the unpaid assessments had surged to 3,079 million U.S. dollars. The arrears included assessments for the UN regular budget, its peacekeeping operations, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), as well as the Headquarters renovation project known as the Capital Master Plan (CMP), according to the UN official.