Financing the United Nations (March 2009)
The UN constantly lacks sufficient funding. The system of mandatory assessments paired with voluntary contribution does not work. This paper presents an overview of the UN's complex financing and important issues like the scale of assessments, spending caps and late payment practices. (Friedrich Ebert Foundation)
Public Priorities in the Allocation of the US Federal Budget (September 2000)
A poll by the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) asked a representative sample of the US population how they would allocate the federal budget. Among other things, they would triple the spending on the UN!
US Conditions for Arrears Payment (Fiscal Year 1997 Budget)
Conditions imposed by Congress on US disbursements to the UN.
Erskine Childers: "Financing the United Nations"
Speech delivered in Rotterdam on 29 September 1995.
History and Background
A history of the UN financial crisis beginning in the UN's early years, covering the Reagan and Bush Administrations and the early Clinton years (ends where the Chronology begins, in mid-1994). This is highly recommended as a preliminary source before you browse the Chronology.
Image & Reality: A 'Vast Sprawling Bureaucracy'? (1994)
Erskine Childers and Brian Urquhart address misinformation about UN staff and the size of its budget. While Western media often describe the UN as "a vast sprawling bureaucracy," the UN employs fewer people than the District Health Services of Wales in Britain. Further disputing the misconception of the UN as "a gigantic paper factory," Childers and Urquhart point out that "the New York Times consumes more paper in one single Sunday edition than the United Nations consumes in all its documents in a whole year." (Renewing the United Nations System)
Chronology of the UN Financial Situation
A detailed chronology of the UN financial situation beginning in August, 1994. Includes quotes from speeches of UN officials and government representatives with links to texts.
