On the brink of bankruptcy, UN makes cuts ... but debt dampens reform: Secretary-General calls for a special session.

Labelling the UN's deepening financial crisis his "top priority", Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on 6 February called for a resumed or special session of the General Assembly in 1996 to adopt a comprehensive plan to restore the Organization's financial soundness and "give a boost" to the overall reform effort. While he would continue to do everything to avoid a collapse, he emphasized that only the Member States "can take the major decisions necessary" to back the UN away from the "edge of insolvency".

Speaking before the Assembly's High-level Open-Ended Working Group on the Financial Situation of the UN--one of five similar groups considering reform efforts--Mr. Boutros-Ghali also proposed a possible 15 to 20 per cent ceiling on a Member State's assessed contribution to the UN's regular budget, which he suggested "would better reflect the fact that this Organization is indeed the instrument of all nations".

As of 31 January, outstanding assessed contributions to the UN totalled over $3.3 billion--an unprecedented level. Of that amount, $1.4 billion was owed to the regular budget and another $1.9 billion to peace-keeping operations worldwide. Unpaid assessments by Member States for periods prior to the current year amounted to $2.2 billion, of which $1.2 billion, or over half, was owed by the United States--the largest single contributor. The second highest unpaid balance for prior periods was $400 million, racked up by the Russian Federation, which recently committed itself to pay its arrears within seven years. Ukraine holds the number three spot.

The past ten years have seen a rising pattern of unpaid assessments, according to UN figures. Out of 185 Member States, only about 10 are fully paid up for prior periods, although all are required to pay their assessments for each year by the end of that January.

"The key to progress at this point", Mr. Boutros-Ghali concluded, "is action on the financial crisis. As long as it remains unresolved, all other efforts to cut back, reform or restructure cannot possibly succeed, and the fate of the Organization itself is in danger."

The Secretary-General has already begun a series of steps to improve the UN's performance and efficiency. Laying out his management concept in his annual report on the work of the Organization (A/50/1), he called for a "mission-driven and result-oriented Organization", with streamlined administrative procedures, decentralization and greater innovation. Among the...