I contributed with some input to this report. The UN member states now have 9 days left to agree on the 2026 UN budget…

#UN80 #ACABQ #FifthCommittee #UNbudget #UnitedNation

Are UN staff actually overpaid? Noblemaire is in the eye of the beholder

Are #UN staff overpaid? Maybe. But short-sighted cuts pushed in the #FifthCommittee are counterproductive. We need a broader rethink of compensation to make the int'l civil service affordable while also being able to effectively respond to today's challenges.

casquebleu.substack.com/p/are-un-sta...

Unfortunately, the #FifthCommittee failed to meet the moment on this. Instead of protecting the budgetary prerogatives of the General Assembly, it rolled over by agreeing on a rubber-stamp draft resolution on the implementation or resolution 2719.

undocs.org/en/A/80/527

Can changing the scales of assessments help mitigate the liquidity crisis? More wishful thinking

Reducing the U.S. share of the #UN budget would help mitigate the cash shortfall, but it is unlikely to happen due to the zero-sum nature of negotiations over the scales of assessments and the consensus-based decision making process in the #FifthCommittee.

casquebleu.substack.com/p/can-changi...

Report: How States try to defund human rights at the UN See press release here. In its new report ‘Budget battles at the UN: How States try to defund human rights’, the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) reveals how a small group of States are…

Think the UN's #FifthCommittee is just admin? Think again. ISHR’s new study shows how budget politics shape real impact in the #UN system. buff.ly/vKEFo19

Follow ReformWorks to stay up to date on these challenges and how to manage them.

What Is the Purpose of the UN’s Fifth Committee? - The current fiscal turbulence underscores an enduring truth — the strength of the United Nations rests not only on its ideals

What Is the Purpose of the UN’s Fifth Committee? wiobs.com/what-is-the-... #UnitedNations #UNBudget #FifthCommittee #AntónioGuterres #GlobalGovernance

Fiddling while the UN runs out of cash The need to avoid business as usual in the Fifth Committee

My latest piece: On the irony of allowing a culpable Member State to weaponize a measure originally intended to avert a liquidity crisis to block action in the #FifthCommittee to mitigate one, plus the likely impact and rationale behind the #UN80 budget cuts.

casquebleu.substack.com/p/fiddling-w...

Budgets, bureaucracy, and the blame game in UN peacekeeping Passing the buck

Last week, the General Assembly approved a level of nearly $5.4 billion for #peacekeeping operations for 2025/26. My latest piece has some thoughts about whether under-resourcing is what ails missions, and what this tells us about reform. #FifthCommittee #UN80

open.substack.com/pub/casquebl...

The United Nations General Assembly's #FifthCommittee (= the budget committee) is about to start a meeting for a briefing on the financial situation of the #UnitedNations.

Let's see whether the UN Secretariat will point out how dramatic the situation is…

Stream:
webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1b...

Prior work experience in the #UN or in the contexts in which it works is a key factor in gaining formal employment in the UN system. As the #FifthCommittee decides on paid #internships, we highlight how #funding of different opportunities impacts how many people can access them and from where.

#FifthCommittee is back in session. Administrative and Budgetary Committee of the 🇺🇳 General Assembly will discuss:

🔵 human resources management of the #UnitedNations
🟡 efficiency, accountability and supply chain issues as well as the UN financial situation

One of the other awardees is former U.S. Senator Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS). In 1985, concerns about UN budgets being adopted over the objections of major financial contributors drove the adoption of the Kassebaum-Solomon amendment, which led to consensus-based decision making in the #FifthCommittee.

The #UNGA is about to adopt the #UNbudget for the 2025.

This may have been the last #FifthCommittee process that went through without major problems.

As of next year, #China will pay 20% into the UN budget, close to the 22% of the 🇺🇸. And Trump takes office—likely wanting to undermine UN finances.

The UN’s #FifthCommittee (#5C) has agreed the #UN’s budget for 2025.

Adequate, sustainable and predictable financing, and Member States meeting their financial obligations on time in full and without conditions, is imperative for allowing the UN to continue its work across the world. 🇺🇳🌍

The accumulation of peacekeeping arrears will slow if the U.S. share decreases as expected in the scales negotiations ongoing in the #FifthCommittee, but liquidity challenges will worsen as arrears grow and budgets shrink with the ongoing retrenchment of peacekeeping. [2/5]

👉🏻 Persistent coherence challenges aren't a gap in policy but in implementation. Member States should use processes such as 2025 PBAR and #FifthCommittee to break down the obstacles that prevent the UN from most effectively leveraging its humanitarian, dev and peace expertise.

Delegations will attempt to adjust elements of the methodology to get different results. From personal experience, the scales of assessments are never easy negotiations because they are, by definition, zero sum and #FifthCommittee resolutions are generally adopted by consensus.

🧵Every 3 yrs, the UN General Assembly reviews the scales of assessments that determine the share that each Member State pays to the UN regular and peacekeeping budgets. This autumn, the #FifthCommittee will negotiate the scales for calendar years 2025-2027. [1/6]