Fact Sheet
Bureau of International Organization Affairs
Washington, DC
August 31, 2004

United Nations

The regular biennial budget of the UN in 2002-03 was $1.968 billion. For the calendar year 2003, the United States� assessed contribution to the UN regular budget was $341 million. In addition, the United States� assessed contribution to UN specialized agencies amounted to over $400 million. The United States also contributed $686 million in assessments to the peacekeeping budget; $57 million for the support of the international war crimes tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia; and, $6 million for preparatory work relating to the UN Capital Master Plan. Moreover, each year the United States provides a significant amount in voluntary contributions to the UN and UN-affiliated organizations and activities (largely for humanitarian and development programs). In sum, U.S. contributions (both cash and in kind) to the UN system in 2003 were well over $3 billion.

The United States and other major UN contributors continue to press for budgetary and administrative reform to make the UN as efficient as possible. In 1999, the United States Government legislated the "Helms-Biden" provision, which authorized the payment of U.S. arrears to the UN and other international organizations upon certification of the Secretary of State that a number of reform goals had been achieved in the UN and major specialized agencies. Between 1999 and 2002, the UN met all required certifications. As a result, the United States cleared over $900 million in arrears to the UN and other organizations. The Secretary-General submitted a further round of reform initiatives in late 2002, and the United States is advocating and closely monitoring their implementation.