Responding to the United Nations Financial Emergency: Funding Our United Nations

  1. The Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO) 28th General Assembly meeting in New York City, 27 – 29 October 2025,
  2. Reiterating its strong belief in the principles of the United Nations Charter and in the central role the United Nations must play in shaping a more just and equal world,
  3. Emphasizing that the survival and future of a strengthened United Nations are essential to the cooperation needed to tackle the central problems facing humanity,
  4. Alarmed by the current liquidity crisis facing the United Nations, which stems from the nonpayment of assessed contributions by certain Member States and has severely impacted the implementation of agreed programmes and mandates across the entire system, thereby affecting peace, development, human rights, and humanitarian needs,
  5. Concerned that most parts of the United Nations, including in the development and human rights sectors, are understaffed and unable to fulfill their mandates,
  6. Further concerned over proposals in the revised 2026 programme budget of the United Nations Secretary General published on 15 September 2025, to shrink the UN 2026 programme budget by 15 percent and reduce staff by 19 percent,
  7. Emphasizing that reducing the assessed regular budget payments by all Member States for 2026 cannot be a sensible response to the unpredictable payment from one major contributor in 2026, and that such a reduction risks significantly worsening an already detrimental liquidity situation,
  8. Given that measures to reverse this dangerous development must be a top priority for Member States and global civil society,
  9. Underlines the vital role the United Nations System can and must play in fostering, managing, and coordinating the achievement of the SDGs, including leveraging the commitment, competence, and responsibility of civil society organizations worldwide,
  10. Strongly regrets the insufficient UN budgets over several years despite increased workload, which constitute an ongoing threat to the efficient functioning of the world organization,
  11. Further emphasizing the negative effects of reducing resources for public information and for the participation of and consultation with non-governmental organizations in the work of the United Nations,
  12. Calls on governments to publicly commit to adopting a sufficiently increased UN regular budget, reversing all recent trends toward seeking economies and reductions at the expense of programmes that require multilateral action,
  13. Further urges governments to fully support and engage with the organs and agencies of the United Nations System, recognizing that withdrawing from multilateralism is a self-inflicted wound that opens the door to unilateral actions, which have often had historically tragic consequences,
  14. Reminds of proposals in the 1980s and 1990s by government officials and leading global expert groups to significantly lower the cap on state contributions to the regular budget, aiming to reduce the risk that UN operations are hostage to shifting national policies that run counter to the obligations of the Charter,
  15. Further recalls proposals to incorporate the core administrative costs of the current UN funds and programmes into the regular budget to give full effect to voluntary contributions received,
  16. Commends the efforts by civil society organizations to alert the public about the UN financial crisis through statements and public meetings,
  17. Stressing that the comparative expenses of the UN regular budget are marginal compared to other current world expenditures,
  18. Recalls the consensus position adopted by the NGO Millennium Forum in May 2000, the broadest civil society event ever at the United Nations, that the United Nations’ regular budget could be doubled immediately with good and positive effects,
  19. Calls on all Member States to pay their assessed contributions in full and on time, in accordance with their Charter obligations,
  20. Calls on Member States to negotiate and adopt the 2026 United Nations programme budget based on the Secretary General’s original budget proposal,
  21. Calls on Member States to revise the United Nations budget scale for the 2026 programme budget, significantly lowering the ceiling for the top contributors to mitigate the negative effects of major withholdings of assessed contributions,
  22. Further emphasizes that increased contributions to cover the amounts resulting from such a revised scale should not lead to higher assessments for countries in poverty, and
  23. Mandates the CoNGO Board to collaborate with the global civil society community to enhance its advocacy with governments and all relevant actors, ensuring the United Nations System receives the resources it rightfully and justifiably needs.
CoNGO Statements
CoNGO Statements

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