By Atoyebi Nike
The United Nations General Assembly has approved a $3.45 billion regular budget for 2026, concluding weeks of tense negotiations shaped by the organization’s wide-ranging UN80 reform programme.
The 193-member Assembly voted on Tuesday to authorize $3,450,426,300 to fund the UN’s core work across peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights.
The budget reflects Secretary-General António Guterres’ push for austerity, including a 15 per cent cut in overall spending and a nearly 19 per cent reduction in staff numbers, as the organization responds to mounting financial pressure.
Funding from the regular budget supports political affairs, international law and justice, development coordination, humanitarian engagement, human rights activities and global public information. It runs on a calendar-year basis and remains separate from the UN peacekeeping budget, which follows a July-to-June cycle.
UN Controller Chandramouli Ramanathan praised delegates of the Fifth Committee for completing the process under tight timelines. He said the Secretariat prepared the full budget in less than six weeks while answering thousands of questions from member states and oversight bodies.
Ramanathan warned that the real work begins with implementation. From January 1, 2026, the UN will eliminate 2,900 positions, while more than 1,000 staff exits have already taken place. He stressed the need to manage the transition carefully to protect staff salaries and benefits.
He also welcomed what he described as record levels of advance payments from member states and urged governments to pay their assessed contributions on time.
