Financing the United Nations - An Introduction

Since its foundation, the United Nations is confronted with heavy financial problems. The payment morale of fulfilling the membership dues is extremely low. The author offers an overview of the methods and scope used to finance the activities of the UN. The main focus is on the mandatory funding of the UN Organization and of its peace-keeping activities. Furthermore, the quantity and the quality of voluntary contributions to seven UN Special Funds and Programmes are analysed. It shows that the unbalanced move towards earmarked contributions for specified programmes, projects or countries change the working character of the UN. In addition, innovative financing sources presented by the UN Secretary- Generals and by experts are presented and discussed. An overview about the financing of UN Specialized Agencies and a finance tableau about the whole UN system are given in an appendix. Also, the book includes a glossary which contains technical and institutional terms.

Klaus Hüfner, former university professor (Freie Universität Berlin), has been engaged in many activities at the periphery of the United Nations system since the early 1970s. He is Honorary President of the World Federation of the United Nations Associations, Geneva/New York, Honorary Member of the German National Commission for UNESCO, Bonn, and Member of the Presidium of the United Nations Association of Germany, Berlin. Presently, he is engaged as Senior Research Fellow of the Global Policy Forum, New York/Bonn.