UN Adopts Two-Year Budget Agreement

On December 24, 2005 the United Nations General Assembly ended a stalemate that had threatened to leave the organization without sufficient funds to operate by agreeing to a $3.79 billion budget for 2006-2007, allowing for negotiations on much-needed reform to continue without the risk of financial collapse. This comes on the heels of a letter, signed by Citizens for Global Solutions and a group of 21 other diverse organizations, urging Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to reverse the Bush Administration's harmful negotiating tactics that had largely caused the crisis.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton precipitated the crisis in late November when, just weeks before the budget deadline, he withdrew U.S. support for a budget until a slew of management reforms were adopted. In a unanimous rebuff to Bolton, other permanent representatives opted for a more constructive approach that avoids the potential for financial ruin.

Under the plan, Secretary-General Kofi Annan is authorized to spend $950 million during the first half of 2006, but will need to go back to the General Assembly for more. The Assembly said it expects 2006 expenditures to total $1.9 billion and that the spending limit will, in effect, cover the needs of the organization for approximately half the year.

The details of the recently approved biennial budget were proposed by a coalition of nations that make up some of the leading financial contributors to the UN. These include countries like the U.S., Japan, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, who favored limiting spending to a figure anticipated for the first six months of the year and setting a two-year budget with the flexibility to be adjusted to reflect reforms like management changes and restructuring that have yet to be accomplished.

Updated January 5, 2006