Overview

The UN Budget is broken down into four areas: the Regular Budget; UN peacekeeping missions; the UN International Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia; and the five-year renovation of the Organisation's New York Headquarters, known as the Capital Master Plan (CMP).  The Fifth Committee is the Committee of the General Assembly with responsibilities for administration and budgetary matters. Based on the reports of the Fifth Committee, the General Assembly considers and approves the budget of the Organisation in accordance with Chapter IV, Article 17 of the Charter of the United Nations.  The UN Budget is financed by assessed contributions from Member States.  A Member State’s assessed contribution is based on a scale of assessment, which is decided by the Fifth Committee and is based on a number of factors, including income per capita and GNP.

Ireland’s Contribution to the UN Budget

Ireland pays 0.445% of the UN Regular Budget, Peacekeeping Budget, CMP and International Tribunals.  In 2008, Ireland was one of 31 Member States on the Honour Roll of states which had paid all of their assessed contributions on time. 

UN Regular Budget

The UN Regular Budget is decided every two calendar years.  The Regular Budget covers the costs of United Nations programmes, including staffing costs, in areas such as political affairs, international justice and law, international cooperation for development, public information, human rights and humanitarian affairs in eight headquarter locations in the US, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.  The UN Regular Budget for the biennium 2008-2009 is approximately US$4.8 billion.

UN Peacekeeping Budget

The Peacekeeping Budget is decided on an annual basis and runs from 1 July – 30 June. The 2008-2009 Peacekeeping Budget is approximately US$7.1 billion for 16 peacekeeping missions. The Fifth Committee decides the Peacekeeping Budget in May and may also consider urgent matters relating to the financing of a peacekeeping mission authorized by the Security Council at any of its sessions.

Capital Master Plan

The Capital Master Plan (CMP) provides for the renovation of the UN Headquarters in New York over a period of five years at a cost of approximately US$1.8 billion.  Refurbishment of the UNHQ complex is necessary to replace deteriorated systems, to meet current building codes and standards for safety, security and accessibility for persons with disabilities, and to improve its environmental performance.  The CMP got underway in 2008 and is due to be completed in mid-2013. 

International Tribunals

The budgets for the UN International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda (ICTR) and the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) are decided on a biennial basis.  For 2008-2009, the General Assembly of the United Nations approved the ICTR budget of approximately US$247 million and the ICTY budget of approximately US$342 million.  The ICTY is due to conclude in 2011   

Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Assistance

The main UN bodies responsible for development cooperation are the UN funds and programmes, in particular the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), which are based in New York. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has primary responsibility for humanitarian affairs and administers the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).  The UN Funds and Programmes are funded entirely through voluntary contributions.  While OCHA does receive a small allocation from the UN Regular Budget, most of its funding and all funding for the CERF is from voluntary contributions.  Ireland contributes regularly to the UN Funds and Programmes, to OCHA and the CERF.