The UN warned about plans for serious budget and staff cuts

The United Nations (UN) is planning to reduce its budget and staff due to financial problems. This was stated on September 10 by Vladimir Kuznetsov, Director of the UN Information Center in Moscow, at a Valdai Club discussion on "The Legacy of the United Nations: what might the organization's reform look like 80 years later?"

"They [possible cuts] are quite painful and serious. <...> About 20% of the budget of the [United Nations] Organization itself and 15-20% staff reductions," Kuznetsov said.

According to him, the UN faces a shortage of $2.4 billion in contributions to the regular budget and another $2.7 billion for peacekeeping operations. The debt of the UN member states is projected to amount to $5.1 billion by the end of 2025.

Underfunding affects all areas of the organization, but humanitarian aid suffers the most from a lack of budget.

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On May 2, the Reuters news agency, citing a United Nations memo, reported on the possibility of a large-scale reorganization amid a reduction in financial assistance from the United States and other countries, which would lead to the consolidation of key departments and the redistribution of resources around the world. The reform involves the unification of dozens of UN agencies into four main departments: peace and security, humanitarian affairs, sustainable development and human rights.

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