July 29, 2013

UN: Financing Peacekeeping

While decisions about establishing, maintaining or expanding a peacekeeping operation are taken by the Security Council, the financing of UN Peacekeeping operations is the collective responsibility of all UN Member States.

A female peacekeeper wearing a blue helmet standing in front of a UN airplane.
UN Photo/Marie Frechon
UNAMID holds a ceremony in Nyala, Sudan, to celebrate the arrival of five tactical helicopters from the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Pictured is one of the long-awaited helicopters.

















Every Member State is legally obligated to pay their respective share towards peacekeeping. This is in accordance with the provisions of Article 17 of the Charter of the United Nations.

The General Assembly apportions peacekeeping expenses based on a special scale of assessments under a complex formula that Member States themselves have established. This formula takes into account, among other things, the relative economic wealth of Member States, with the five permanent members of the Security Council required to pay a larger share because of their special responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

The General Assembly reaffirmed these and other general principles underlying the financing of peacekeeping operations in resolution A/RES/55/235 PDF Document (23 December 2000)

See the scale of assessments applicable to UN peacekeeping operations in the selected General Assembly documents.

How much does peacekeeping cost?

The budget for UN Peacekeeping operations for the fiscal year 1 July 2012-30 June 2013 is about $7.33 billion [A/C.5/66/18] PDF Document.

By way of comparison, this is less than half of one per cent of world military expenditures (estimated at $1,753 billion in 2012).

The top 10 providers of assessed contributions to United Nations Peacekeeping operations in 2013 [A/67/224/Add.1] PDF Document are:
  1. United States (28.38%)
  2. Japan (10.83%)
  3. France (7.22%)
  4. Germany (7.14%)
  5. United Kingdom (6.68%)
  6. China (6.64%)
  7. Italy (4.45%)
  8. Russian Federation (3.15%)
  9. Canada (2.98%)
  10. Spain (2.97%)
Many countries have also voluntarily made additional resources available to support UN Peacekeeping efforts on a non-reimbursable basis in the form of transportation, supplies, personnel and financial contributions above and beyond their assessed share of peacekeeping costs.

Although the payment of peacekeeping assessments is mandatory, as of 31 May 2013, Member States owed approximately $1.24 billion in current and back peacekeeping dues.

Approved resources for peacekeeping operations in selected General Assembly documents.

How are resources budgeted?

Budgets of peacekeeping operations are based on the missions’ mandate from the Security Council. As such, they are strategic documents aligning resources to achieve the overall objectives of the operation.

Each peacekeeping operation has its own budget and account which includes operational costs such as transport and logistics and staff costs such as salaries.

The peacekeeping budget cycle runs from 1 July to 30 June. This cycle is rarely aligned with the Security Council mandate; however budgets are prepared for 12 months based on of the most current mandate of the operation.

The Secretary-General submits budget proposal to the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ). The ACABQ reviews the proposal and makes recommendations to the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee for its review and approval. Ultimately, the budget is endorsed by the General Assembly as a whole.

At the end of the financial cycle, each peacekeeping operation prepares and submits a performance report which shows the actual use of resources. This report is also considered and approved by the General Assembly.

How are peacekeepers compensated?

The UN has no military forces of its own, and Member States provide, on a voluntary basis, the military and police personnel required for each peacekeeping operation.

Peacekeeping soldiers are paid by their own Governments according to their own national rank and salary scale. Countries volunteering uniformed personnel to peacekeeping operations are reimbursed by the UN at a standard rate, approved by the General Assembly, of a little over US$1,028 per soldier per month.

Police and other civilian personnel are paid from the peacekeeping budgets established for each operation.

The UN also reimburses Member States for providing equipment, personnel and support services to military or police contingents.

Selected General Assembly documents regulating the scale of assessments applicable to United Nations Peacekeeping operations
DateTitle*Symbol
27 December 2012Effective rates of assessment for peacekeeping, 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2015A/67/224/Add.1
24 December 2012Scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of United Nations peacekeeping operationsA/RES/67/239
3 August 2012Implementation of General Assembly resolutions 55/235 and 55/236A/67/224
31 December 2009Implementation of General Assembly resolutions 55/235 and 55/236 - AddendumA/64/220/Add.1
24 December 2009Scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of United Nations peacekeeping operationsA/RES/64/249
23 September 2009Implementation of General Assembly resolution 55/235 and 55/236A/64/220*
6 July 2007Report of the Committee on ContributionsA/62/11(Supp)
27 December 2006Implementation of General Assembly resolutions 55/235 and 55/236A/61/139/Add.1
6 September 2006Implementation of General Assembly resolutions 55/235 and 55/236 - Corr.1A/61/139/Corr.1
13 July 2006Implementation of General Assembly resolutions 55/235 and 55/236A/61/139
27 June 2006Report of the Committee on ContributionsA/61/11
17 December 2003Implementation of General Assembly Resolutions 55/235 and 55/236 - AddendumA/58/157/Add.1
15 July 2003Implementation of General Assembly Resolutions 55/235 and 55/236A/58/157
1 March 2001Information on the implementation of General Assembly resolutions 55/235 and 55/236A/C.5/55/38
30 January 2001Scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of United Nations Peacekeeping operationsA/RES/55/235
29 January 2001Voluntary movements in connection with the apportionment of the expenses of United Nations Peacekeeping OperationsA/RES/55/236
Selected General Assembly documents relating to the approved resources for UN Peacekeeping operations
DateTitle*Symbol
27 June 2012Approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013A/C.5/66/18
13 January 2012Approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012A/C.5/66/14
7 February 2011Approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011A/C.5/65/15
13 July 2010Approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011A/C.5/64/19
22 January 2010Approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010A/C.5/64/15
4 August 2009Approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010A/C.5/63/26
1 May 2009Approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009A/C.5/63/23
31 January 2008Approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008A/C.5/62/23
15 January 2007Approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007

A/C.5/61/18
* All documents above are in PDF format.

No comments: