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United Nations facing financial difficulty, says Guterres
The United Nations is running out of cash, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned, saying the cash crunch is the worst in years.
The UN chief urged member states to pay their mandatory contributions on time and in full, so that the world intergovernmental body could continue to deliver on its key mandates. In a letter to UN staff, the secretary-general stated that he had “written to member states regarding the troubling financial situation facing the United Nations.’’
Guterres wrote: “Caused primarily by the delayed contributions of member states to the regular budget, this new cash shortfall is unlike those we have experienced previously. “Our cash flow has never been this low so early in the calendar year, and the broader trend is also concerning: we are running out of cash sooner and staying in the red longer.’’
Nigeria had paid its annual dues for 2018 in full, making it the 74th out of the 193 member states of the global intergovernmental organisation to fulfill its financial obligations.
Investigations revealed that Nigeria paid $5,080,178 on April 5, 2018 when 119 member states were yet to pay their regular budgets, making Nigeria the 10th country in Africa to pay its UN regular budgets in full. At the end of June 2018, the amount of money paid by member states for the 2018 assessment stood at around 1.49 billion dollars, while at the same time in 2017, the amount paid to the regular budget was just over 1.70 billion dollars.
The General Assembly in December approved a 5.4 billion dollars two-year budget for the United Nations which was separate from the UN peacekeeping budget. A total of 112 out of the 193 countries have paid their dues in full as of July, although this list did not include the United States, the UN’s number one financial contributor.
The outstanding amount owed for 2018 remained at nearly 810 million dollars, with 81 states yet to pay. The United States pays 22 percent of the UN budget, but the payment occurs later in the year, in line with its national budget cycle.
During the 2017 gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly, President Donald Trump complained that the United States was shouldering too much of the cost of the world body. “I have appealed to member states to pay their assessments on time and in full, and highlighted the risk the current situation poses to the delivery of mandates and to the reputation of our organisation,” Guterres wrote in the letter.
In 2016, Nigeria had asked the UN to review the country’s assessed contributions to the global organisation in view of the economic recession in the country at the time. Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Ms Winifred Oyo-Ita, made the call at the UN Headquarters in New York when she visited the Chairman of the UN Fifth Committee, Kingston Rhodes.
The Fifth Committee is the committee of the General Assembly with responsibilities for administrative and budgetary matters. Nigeria was expected to pay outstanding contributions of 10.2 million dollars as at December 2016.
However, Oyo-Ita said: “Due to recession, we want something done to review our dues and we want the UN to reconsider our assessment due to the realities of the time. “What Nigeria is being asked to pay now is on the high side. Nigeria is committed to paying its contributions but we want some considerations. We want something to be done to re-adjust our scale.”
Nigeria’s scale of assessment for 2013 to 2015 was 0.119 before the re-basing of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2014. However, with the re-basing of the GDP from $270bn to over $500bn, the scale of assessment of Nigeria increased to 0.209 for the period 2016 to 2018. Nigeria has been pursuing the re-adjustment of the scale due to the economic reality of the country and the country’s scale is due for review this year.
Speaking to journalists, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, said that the UN fully understood that some member states operated on different fiscal timetables. She, however, said that unlike in previous years, the cash flow had never been this low so early in the calendar year.
Dujarric also said the UN did not have much financial flexibility and relies on member states to pay their dues on time and in full. The spokesperson added that the UN Secretariat would now be looking into ways of reducing expenses with a focus on non-staff costs.
(Vanguard).
News
France Urged to Address Colonial Legacy as Senegalese Activists Call for Reparations in Dakar Roundtable
Reporter: Sandra Ani
France’s colonial legacy came under renewed scrutiny as journalists, historians, and pan-African activists gathered at African Memorial Square in Dakar for a powerful roundtable advocating reparations and economic justice.
The event highlighted growing demands for France to take full responsibility for its historical role in Senegal and across West Africa.
Organized by advocacy groups including the Association of Descendants of Senegalese Soldiers, the Front for the Withdrawal of French Military Bases (GASSI), and JIF’AFRIK, the roundtable brought together influential voices pushing for reparatory justice and structural transformation.
Among the key speakers were Babacar Dioh of the Thiaroye 44 Movement—a coalition of descendants of Senegalese tirailleurs—and Souleymane Jules Diallo, leader of JIF’AFRIK. Discussions centered on two central demands: official reparations for colonial-era injustices and the urgent renegotiation of trade and military agreements that activists say perpetuate economic dependence.
“The time for symbolic gestures is over,” said Dioh. “We are now filing an official reparations claim and taking concrete steps to hold France accountable.”
Speakers called for the dismantling of existing neocolonial frameworks, stressing the ecological, financial, and social harm that has endured beyond the colonial period. The roundtable marks a turning point in Dakar’s positioning as a hub for coordinated African-led advocacy aimed at restoring historical justice.
This event adds momentum to a growing continental movement seeking tangible reparative action from former colonial powers and reinforces the call for equity, autonomy, and acknowledgment of historical truths.
The Enugu State government has inaugurated a steering committee to eliminate Gender-Based Violence, GBV, in the state, declaring zero tolerance for the social malaise.
The inauguration took place at the Government House Enugu.
The panel, which is chaired by the Commissioner for Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Ngozi Enih, draws its membership from the Nigeria Police Force, Ministry of Agriculture and Agro Industrialisation, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ministry of Human Development and Poverty Reduction, Ministry of Trade, Investment and Industry, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education as well as the Civil Society.
Inaugurating the panel known as the Steering Committee for Strengthening Institutional and Community Responses to End Gender-Based Violence/Domestication of Enugu State Gender Policy using the Oputa Panel approach, Governor Peter Mbah restated his administration’s commitment to not bringing perpetrators of GBV to book, but also putting in place proactive measures – activities, infrastructure, and systems in place to prevent them.
Mbah, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said, “We take gender-based violence seriously. We have zero tolerance for it, and in Enugu State, we are ready to go the extra mile to deal with it.
“If you notice, the government has selected people that are very committed to this goal. This is not an activity where we just want to check-off the list. We will track this. We will monitor this, and we will have quarterly engagements on the successes that this particular committee has achieved in terms of reference that we are going to send.
“We will tighten those terms of reference indicators, so that we monitor what we are doing both in terms of cost input and the value added. It’s very important to us. Many people will be involved – civil society, the police and various ministries.”
He however, said that the effort was to protect everyone, men and women alike, as GBV was not restricted to any gender.
“The whole idea is to hold people responsible that are involved in matters relating to gender violence and deter people that by culture or by association get involved in that, protect women, protect our children, and in the case of violence against men, protect our men because most times we misconstrue gender violence to mean women, but it can also be men too.
“We encourage our men to speak out and to make sure they understand that the policy that Enugu State is soon going to domesticate is for everyone, and not only for the female gender,” he stated.
In her remark, Mrs. Enih, explained that the Oputa Panel approach was inspired by the need to cover all local peculiarities in domesticating the policy on GBV, restarting government’s confidence in the members of the panel.
“The approach we are going to use is the Oputa Panel approach, and in the Oputa Panel approach, we are going to tour the 17 Local Government Areas to get firsthand information about what our people are going through because policy is meant for the people, and a policy should suit the people.
“Again, every community has its peculiar problems, so that’s why the government decided that if we have to domesticate the gender policy, we have to hear from the people who own the policy and know the changes that they desire to see. That is the reason we are using this approach.
“The committee members are to also serve as judges. As we gather this information from our people, we will come back to tailor it in a way to suit the people of Enugu State, and then our policy is ready.
“We want the people to know that there is a gender policy for them. I can assure you that when the people are aware that there is such a policy, they will seek for the enforcement of that policy. So, this is not going to be one of those policies that will just lie on the shelf,” she said.
Digital solutions provider, Globacom, has congratulated Christians in Nigeria on this year’s Easter celebration, and urged them to emulate the noble qualities of Jesus Christ.
The company, in a goodwill message to the Christian faithful in the country, lauded their perseverance through the Lenten period which preceded Easter. It enjoined them to always promote the ideals of selflessness, love and peace among all as a way of demonstrating the virtues of the exemplary life of Jesus Christ.
“Peace, love and sacrifice are the central message of Easter. Christ offered himself in atonement for the sins of the world and he lived a life which made Him an eternal symbol of peace and goodwill for mankind”, Globacom added.
The company enjoined all Nigerians to share in the lessons of promoting selflessness, a necessary ingredient in the growth and development of every society. It also enjoined all Nigerians to join hands to make Nigeria a better place for all.
Easter is celebrated yearly at the end of the Lenten season of fasting and prayer considered as a ritual of purification for the Christian faithful. It also precedes the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ on Good Friday and His eventual resurrection on Easter Sunday.
The company assured its customers of seamless voice, data and Short Messaging Service (SMS) during and after the Easter celebrations, while urging them to avail themselves of the various data and voice offerings on the network.
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