Portugal will contribute 0.353% of the UN’s annual budget in the next three years – Economy
The annual budget of 3.12 billion dollars (2.75 billion euros) was approved last Friday by the 5th commission of the UN General Assembly, with 193 member states.
In the annual budget approval session, the contribution scales of each Member State were also revised, which takes place every three years, making Portugal responsible for guaranteeing 0.353% of the total budget in the next three years, confirmed today the mission of Portugal at the UN.
Based on the annual budget and without considering some factors that influence the number, a Portuguese contribution would be approximately 9.7 million euros next year, a slight increase in the amount paid in recent years.
In 2021, Portugal paid around 8.9 million euros (10.1 million dollars) to the general budget of the organization which has 193 member states.
In 2020, Portugal’s contribution was 8.6 million euros (9.8 million dollars), according to UN data.
In a written statement to Lusa, a mission from Portugal considered to be responsible for next year’s budget, under the responsibility of the 5th Commission of the UN General Assembly, “has been carried out in a constructive manner, despite the particularly demanding working conditions, including hybrid negotiating methods”
“The General Assembly adopted a budget that will allow the adequate financing of all United Nations mandates, in its three pillars – peace and security, Human rights and sustainable development – ensuring the complementarity of the various means available to the UN in responding to global challenges that we are facing”, added the Portuguese representation at the UN.
The mission also underlined that, in compliance with the reforms proposed by the UN secretary general, António Guterres, it will be the third consecutive year that the organization has had an annual budget, as opposed to the old biennial budgets.
“The annual budget allows for greater responsiveness and more flexibility in the face of more uncertain circumstances, such as resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, and makes evident the gains in efficiency and functionality of the implemented reforms”, the statement reads.
The UN budget is used to fund the United Nations Secretariat and special political missions, among other components.
The United States is the country that contributes the most to the UN budget, with about 11 billion dollars in 2019.
Data for 2021 indicate that the next largest contributions were from China at $347 million, Japan at $247 million and Germany at $176 million.
The regular annual budget is separate from the budget allocated to peacekeeping missions, also under the responsibility of the 5th Commission of the General Assembly, which caused a crisis within the UN at the end of June, when countries almost exceeded the deadline for an agreement.
The lack of agreement that lasted until the end of June was close to causing an immediate and temporary 12 peacekeeping missions worldwide from 1 July.
The agreement was reached at the last minute, on June 29, allowing the peacekeeping missions to continue without any operational stoppage.
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