Preventive Action for Refugee Producing Situations

170 Chapter 4
The main source of funds for the regular budget is contributions of Member
States to be paid according to a scale specified by the General Assembly. The
main criterion on which scale of assessments is based is the capacity of member
states to pay. 385 (However, the financial situation of the United Nations is
serious. In the last years Member States requested the Secretary-General to
establish 12 peace-keeping/observer operations as compared to the total 25
since the beginning in 1948. Only one of these twelve operations was financed
from the regular budget 386 and the other eleven were established on the basis of
a special account through the Security Council. 387
The special account operations are financed by assessed
1993 of the General Assembly, pp. 1,2,3.
385 The legal regime governing assessments is Article 17,2, of the Charter of the UN,
which provides: "The expenses of the Organisation shall be borne by the
Members as apportioned by the General Assembly". Under the scale which
applies to the period of 1989-1990, assessments range from a maximum of 25%
for the largest contributor (USA) to a minimum of 0.01% (for example,
Bangladesh, Haiti, or Liberia). See: "The Financing of the United Nations
Peacekeeping Operations, The Need for a Sound Financial Basis", by Susan R.
Mills, International Peace Academy, Occasional Paper, Nr. 3,1989, p. 5.
386 United Nations Good Offices Mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan (UNGOMAP)
Security Council Resolution 622 (1988).
387 UN Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group Sec. Council Res. 619 (1988)
(UNIIMOG)
UN Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM) Sec. Council Res. 626 (1988)
UN Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) Sec. Council Res. 632 (1989)
Namibia 435 (1978)
UN Observer Group in Central America Sec. Council Res. 644 (1989)
(ONUCA)
UN Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission (UNIKOM) Sec. Council Res. 689 (1991)
UN Mission for the Referendum in
Western Sahara (MINURSO) Sec Council Res. 690 (1991)
UN Observer Mission in El Salvador
(ONUSAL) Sec. Council Res.693 (1991)
UN Angola Verification Mission
(UNAVEM u) Sec. Council Res. 696 (1991)
UN Advance Mission in Cambodia
(UNAMIC) Sec. Council Res.717 (1991)
UN Protection Forces (UNPROFOR) Sec. Council Res. 743 (1992)
UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) Sec Counc il Res.745
(1992)
Source: Handfile UNITAR Training Programme, 23-27 March 1992.
New Approaches and Policies 171
contributions from all Member States on the basis of a special scale of
assessments, which places a heavier burden on the permanent Members of
the Security Council and some wealthier Member States, and reduces that
of the least developed countries. This method is generally accepted by the
Member States and will probably be applied to future operations without
problems. 388
In his annual report for 1991, the Secretary-General mentioned that the
increasingly ambitious and costly operations have led to a serious financial
shortfall. At the date of that report some $810 million of the regular budget
and $500 million for peace-keeping were outstanding. 389 In view of the 25
% scale of assessment applicable to the USA, this country's outstanding
payment is by far the highest
But, even as USA financial pressure has been driving the United
Nations to the brink of insolvency, the organization began unexpectedly to
demonstrate how it could be made to work best. Namely by providing a
reliable instrument for impartial third-party management of international,
especially regional conflict situations by way of peacekeeping and
peacemaking. 390
Therefore, the UN needed to draw upon cash reserves (i.e. Working
Capital Fund and the Special Account totalling about $236 million), to
meet current operations. Reporting on the financial situation of the
organization, the Secretary-General pleaded that the outstanding
contributions to the regular budget and the peace keeping operations be
paid in substantial amounts. 391
In order to provide Member States with the necessary elements to
address the financial crises, Secretary General Perez dc Cuellar offered the
following three proposals in November 1991:
- Establish measures to deal with cash flow problems
- Establish a Humanitarian Revolving Fund
- Establish an UN Peace Endowment Fund ($ 1 billion). 392
___________________________
388 F.T. Liu, "United Nations Peacekeeping: Management and Operations";
International Peace Academy, Occasional Papers on Peacekeeping, p. 31.
389 Rapport du Secr6taire-General sur l'Activite' de rOrganisation, 1991, pp. 23,24.
390 George L. Sherry; "The United Nations Reborn, Conflict Control in the Post-
Cold War World". Critical Issues 1990.2, Council on Foreign Relations, New
York; p. 10.
391 A/46/600,24 October 1991. The Financial Situation of the United Nations.
Report of the Secretary-General.
392 A/46/600/Add.l, 19 November 1991. The Financial Situation of the United
Nations, Proposals to Address the Problems of Today and Tomorrow. Report of