UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday instructed his top senior managers to seek ways to reduce the administrative UN budget by 3 per cent in response to a reduction in contributions, dpa reported.
"We must be realistic about the current economic climate," Ban told his aides. "Even the wealthiest nations are tightening their belts and cutting budgets. The United Nations must be no less disciplined. We cannot go about business as usual."
He said the two-year budget of 5.4 billion dollars must be cut by 3 per cent, a decision that must be made by UN members charged with approving UN spending in December.
The administrative budget goes to maintaining UN headquarters in New York, Geneva and Vienna, and pay salaries of its personnel. New York has over 4,000 employees. Budgets for peacekeeping operations and specialized agencies like UNICEF and WHO are separate.
The United States is the largest contributor with over 22 per cent, followed by Japan, Germany, France and Italy. Those countries also contribute to humanitarian and development programmes around the world in addition to the regular administrative budget.
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