Program on UN Finance
and the UN Fiancial Crisis
A deep financial crisis continued to cripple the UN in 1999. Member states owed the organization $1.8 billion in unpaid dues at the end of December, considerably more than the $1.2 billion regular budget. Global Policy Forum promoted public awareness of this crisis and sought solutions. The Program on UN Finance was one of GPF's major priorities during the year.
The UN has no authority to borrow, so it owes very large sums to suppliers and to member states that have provided peacekeeping forces. Secretary General Kofi Annan and his team have been forced to pare budgets that are already inadequate, damaging the UN's many vital programs.
The United States government is primarily responsible for the crisis, because of large arrears in its dues payments (about $1.2 billion or 67% of the total). Other major governments contributed to the crisis by cutting contributions to key development and humanitarian funds. During 1999, Germany and Denmark made major cuts in their contributions to the UN Development Programme, for example. Sadly, the sums involved are very small in terms of overall government expenditures. The UN's total regular budget, for example, is less than the budget of the Tokyo fire department.
Global Policy Forum's 1999 program included research, public education, media outreach, diplomacy, public events, publications, and partnerships with many dozens of citizen organizations worldwide. The following are highlights of this effort:
Research, Analysis and Data
Global Policy Forum carried out research and analysis on the financial crisis in close consultation with the United Nations Secretariat. We clarified the nature of the crisis and persuaded citizen groups to address it. Press outlets and citizen organizations often turned to GPF as their main source of information and interpretation, especially because of complex and confusing developments in Washington. Expert consultants in universities and institutes, such as Klaus Hüfner of the Freie Universität in Berlin, Anthony McDermott of the Oslo Peace Research Institute, and Michael Renner of the Worldwatch Institute helped GPF during the year by sharing their own research and data. That input, along with GPF's outstanding in-house research capacity, assured work of a high quality.
During the year, GPF expanded its data analysis to encompass the finances of all the organs of the United Nations system, not just the core UN budgets. We thus presented to the public for the first time integrated data series on the whole system. This work confirmed the breadth of the financial crisis and the pathetically small amounts that states are willing to invest in these vital multilateral activities.
Web Site
GPF continued to develop its web site information on UN finance issues. During the year we learned that UN officials and delegations, as well as academic researchers, rely on the GPF data as the best-in-the-world source. The site, which added many colorful graphs and constantly-updated its information, contains an array of over 300 pages of data tables, graphs, documents and analyses on the topic. Tens of thousands of visitors consulted this information during 1999.
Worldwide Mobilization
In 1999, GPF organized the fourth worldwide event to call attention to the UN financial crisis. This year, the event was called the Millennium Mobilization and it was co-sponsored by the NGO Millennium Forum on October 23rd, the eve of UN Day. Vigils, teach-ins, pickets and other events took place in about forty cities around the globe. Affiliates of the World Federalist Movement and United Nations Association again joined as partners in various countries. GPF brought together a broad coalition of NGOs to support the vigil and hundreds of local organizers put together vigil events worldwide in cities such as Calcutta, Tokyo, Oslo and Ottawa as well as many US cities.
Advising Partners, Media Outreach
Global Policy Forum advised and encouraged citizen groups -- in the United States and worldwide -- on their work on the UN financial crisis. We helped to draft statements, wrote newsletter articles and otherwise provided policy advice to dozens of organizations. We also gave interviews to the media on this subject. Special interest arose during the year because of the large gift of billionaire Ted Turner in support of UN programs and UN initiatives for income-generating partnerships with private corporations. Responding to these and other financial issues, GPF addressed UN financial questions on ABC prime time news, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and a number of newspapers. GPF is troubled by a trend that is turning the United Nations into a privately-supported charity, rather than a public institution. Throughout the year we worked with NGO partners to urge the UN and its agencies to rethink this new policy.
Global Policy Forum is supported primarily by contributions from generous individuals who join as members. GPF also receives grants from foundations and partner institutions. GPF is incorporated in the State of New York, registered as a charitable organization and recognized by the US Internal Revenue Service as a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the revenue code.
