UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock has warned that a deep liquidity crisis is threatening UN peacekeeping, humanitarian aid, and development programmes.

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NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 10 — The President of the United Nations General Assembly Annalena Baerbock has warned that the United Nations’ deepening liquidity crisis is threatening peacekeeping operations, humanitarian assistance, and development programmes worldwide.

She urged member states to fully meet their financial obligations to the world body.

Speaking during a press conference at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Baerbock said the UN is under severe financial strain due to unpaid assessed contributions from member states and declining voluntary funding from key donors.

📌 What You Need to Know

“We should not sugarcoat the situation. The UN is in a deep liquidity crisis,” she said.

The warning comes as the United Nations grapples with rising humanitarian needs across multiple conflict zones while struggling to mobilize adequate resources to sustain its global operations.

Baerbock noted that UN Secretary-General António Guterres had begun the year by urging member states to pay their assessed contributions on time, stressing that predictable and timely payments are essential for the organization’s functioning.

“Paying your contribution is not optional, it’s an obligation for every member state,” she said.

She also criticized existing financial rules that require the UN to refund unspent funds to member states even when some countries have not fully paid their assessed contributions, describing the arrangement as counterproductive.

“At the moment, the UN has to pay back money it never received because one of the larger member states did not pay its contribution at all,” she said.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya