UN risks 'imminent financial collapse', secretary general warns10 hours agoShareSaveMaia DaviesandImogen Foulkes,Geneva correspondentShareSaveGetty ImagesAntónio Guterres said the organisation's money could run out by JulyThe United Nations is at risk of "imminent financial collapse" due to member states not paying their fees, the body's head has warned.António Guterres said the UN faced a financial crisis which was "deepening, threatening programme delivery", and that money could run out by July.He wrote in a letter to all 193 member states that they had to honour their mandatory payments or overhaul the organisation's financial rules to avoid collapse.It comes after the UN's largest contributor, the US, refused to contribute to its regular and peacekeeping budgets, and withdrew from several agencies it called a "waste of taxpayer dollars". Several other members are in arrears or are simply refusing to pay.Though the UN General Assembly did approve a partial change to its financial system in late 2025, the organisation still faces a massive cash crisis compounded by a rule that means it is refunding money it never received.At its headquarters in Geneva, signs warning of the situation have been put up everywhere. In an almost desperate attempt to save cash, the escalators are regularly turned off and the heating turned down.Guterres wrote in his letter that the UN had faced financial crises in the past but that the current situation was "categorically different"."Decisions no
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