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1 1 (January 20, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govekia0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con gressiot informing the Ieqi: I Research Sern/ce tiv cebtesic01914 Updated January 20, 2023 United Nations Issues: U.S. Funding to the U.N. System The United States is the single largest financial contributor to the United Nations (U.N.) system. Congress has long debated the appropriate level of U.S. funding to U.N. system activities and whether U.S. contributions are used efficiently and effectively. U.S. policymakers' perspectives on U.N. funding have varied over time. For example, the Trump Administration consistently proposed significant decreases in U.N. funding and withheld contributions to some U.N. bodies; however, Congress funded most U.N. entities at higher levels than the Administration requested. The Biden Administration supports U.S. engagement with U.N. entities; the President's FY2023 budget request proposed fully funding assessed contributions to U.N. bodies and paying selected U.S. arrears. For FY2023, Congress fully funded most U.N. entities but (as in previous years) withheld or conditioned funding for certain activities. U.N. Syster Funding The U.N. system comprises interconnected entities including specialized agencies, funds and programs, peacekeeping operations, and the U.N. organization itself. The U.N. Charter, ratified by the United States in 1945, requires each member state to contribute to the expenses of the organization. The system is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from U.N. members. Assessed contributions are required dues, the payment of which is a legal obligation accepted by a country when it becomes a member. Such funding provides U.N. entities with a regular source of income to pay for staff and implement core programs. The U.N. regular budget, specialized agencies, and peacekeeping operations are all financed mainly by assessed contributions. Voluntary contributions primarily finance U.N. funds and programs, such as UNICEF and the U.N. Development Program, and donor commitments may fluctuate annually. For more information, see CRS In Focus IF11780, United Nations Issues: Overview of the United Nations System. U.N. regular budget. The U.N. regular budget funds the core administrative costs of the organization, including the U.N. General Assembly, Security Council, Secretariat, International Court of Justice, special political missions, and human rights entities. The regular budget is adopted by the Assembly and covers one calendar year (January 1 to December 31). Most Assembly decisions related to the budget are adopted by consensus. When budget votes occur (which is rare) decisions are made by a two-thirds majority of members present and voting, with each country having one vote. The approved regular budget for 2023 is $3.4 billion. The Assembly determines a regular budget scale of assessments every three years based on a country's capacity to pay. (Most recently, the Assembly adopted assessment rates for the 2022-2024 period in December 2021.) The United States is assessed 22%, the highest of any U.N. member, followed by China (15.25%) and Japan (8.03%). U.N. Specialized Agencies. The 15 U.N. specialized agencies, which include the World Health Organization; Food and Agriculture Organization; and U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Educational Organization (UNESCO), among others, are autonomous in executive, legislative, and budgetary powers. Some agencies follow the scale of assessment for the U.N. regular budget, while others use their own formulas to determine assessments. The United States is a member of 12 of 15 U.N. specialized agencies. U.N. peacekeeping funding. There are currently 12 U.N. peacekeeping missions worldwide with over 80,000 military, police, and civilian personnel. U.N. Security Council resolutions establishing new operations specify how each mission will be funded. In most cases, the Council authorizes the General Assembly to create a discrete account for each operation funded by assessed contributions; recently, the General Assembly temporarily allowed peacekeeping funding to be pooled for increased financial flexibility due to concerns about budget shortfalls. The approved budget for the 2022-2023 peacekeeping fiscal year (July 1 to June 30) is $6.45 billion. The peacekeeping scale of assessments is based on modifications of the regular budget scale, with the five permanent Council members assessed at a higher level than for the regular budget. The current U.S. peacekeeping assessment is 26.94%; however, Congress has capped the U.S. contribution at 25%. China (18.69%) and Japan (8.03%) have the next highest assessment rates. US Funding U.S. funding to the United Nations is authorized under the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 (P.L. 79-264, as amended). Funding authorization for other U.N. bodies is also included in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (P.L. 87-195, as amended). Congress generally appropriates U.N. system funding through the Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) accounts in annual Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) Appropriations Acts (Table 1). The FY2023 SFOPS Act (Division K of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023; P.L. 117-328) includes about $1.44 billion for the Contributions to International Organizations (CIO) account, which funds assessed contributions to the U.N. regular budget, U.N. specialized agencies, and other international organizations (IOs). The Act also includes $1.48 billion for the Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities (CIPA) account, which funds U.S. assessed contributions to most U.N. peacekeeping operations up to the 25% cap. (This amount does not include payment of peacekeeping arrears as requested in the President's FY2023 budget.) Additionally, the act provides $508.6 million for the International Organizations & Programs (IO&P) account, which funds mostly core voluntary contributions to U.N.

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