United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on member states to address unpaid dues and overhaul the world body’s financial rules.

and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres The warning warned that the United Nations faced “imminent financial collapse” due to non-payment of annual fees and other issues.

Al Jazeera reviewed a letter on Friday that Guterres sent to all U.N. member states earlier this week, warning them that the United Nations faced a serious financial crisis.

The letter urges member states to agree to overhaul the United Nations’ financial rules or accept “the realistic prospect of the organization’s financial collapse” and calls on them to pay their annual dues.

While Guterres stopped short of blaming a specific country for the U.N.’s financial woes, his call comes as U.S. President Donald Trump moves to cut Washington’s funding of multilateral agencies.

Trump, his administration Plans announced this month It has withdrawn from several U.N. agencies and recently launched a so-called “peace commission” initiative that some experts say is aimed at marginalizing the United Nations.

Louis Charbonneau, director of UN Human Rights Watch, said: “Judging from the $1 billion in permanent membership fees, Trump’s board appears to be a paying global club.” recently warned.

“Instead of giving Trump a $1 billion check, governments should work together to protect the United Nations and other institutions established to uphold international human rights and humanitarian law, global rule of law and accountability,” Charbonneau said.

The annual dues that UN member states must pay are determined based on each country’s gross domestic product (GDP), debt and other factors.

The United States accounts for 22% of the core budget, followed by China at 20%.

But Guterres said unpaid dues would reach a record $1.57 billion by the end of 2025, without revealing which countries had yet to pay.

“Either all member states meet their obligations to pay on time and in full, or member states must fundamentally reform our financial rules to prevent a looming financial collapse,” he said.

Early January, United Nations approves $3.45 billion budget 2026 – down 7% from last year as the global agency seeks to reduce costs amid financial challenges.

Still, Guterres warned in his letter that the organization could run out of cash in July.

One of the problems is a rule now seen as outdated that the global body must refund hundreds of millions of dollars in unspent dues to countries each year.

“In other words, we are trapped in a Kafkaesque cycle where cash is expected to be returned that does not exist,” Guterres said in the letter.

As of Thursday, only 36 of the 193 UN member states had paid their 2026 regular membership fees in full. The United Nations stated on its website.