UN plans to cut 20% of staff to tackle major funding shortfall

Reuters

The United Nations is ordering over 60 offices and agencies to submit plans to cut 20% of their staff by mid-June as part of a wide reform effort to address a serious budget gap.

About 2,800 positions out of 14,000 covered by the regular UN budget will be affected. This includes workers in political, humanitarian, refugee, gender equality, environment, and trade programs, as well as UNRWA, which supports Palestinian refugees.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres aims to reduce the current $3.72 billion budget by up to 20% through these cuts. This is part of the UN80 reform launched in March, ahead of the UN’s 80th anniversary.

Guterres stressed the cuts are not linked to US President Donald Trump’s foreign aid reductions but due to long-term funding shortfalls, as many member countries delay or skip payments.

The US, with the world’s largest economy, is expected to pay 22% of the UN’s regular budget, but last year it was among 41 nations that did not pay in full.

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