The General Assembly has approved a US$3.59 billion budget for the United Nations for 2024. The budget includes creation of a dedicated account to fund the organization’s peace-building fund.
This was revealed in a statement issued by the Office of the President of the General Assembly on Sunday, the News Agency of Nigeria.
According to the announcement, the budget was approved on Friday.
The 193-member General Assembly also approved approximately $50 million in new funding for Human Rights Council decisions, the UN’s premier forum on human rights issues.
It also voted to create the peace-building acount, a multi-year special account dedicated to financing the Peace-building Fund.
According to the announcement, it also approved US$50 million in assessed contributions every year to support the Account beginning January 1, 2025.
The Peace-building Fund is the United Nations’ principal tool for investing in preventative and peace-building activities, as well as supporting coordinated responses to important peace-building opportunities, by integrating development, humanitarian, human rights, and peace-building pillars.
In October, the Secretary-General presented the General Assembly with a US$3.3 billion budget proposal, telling delegates on the Assembly’s main budget committee that “the role of the United Nations has never been more vital.”
While presenting the budget, the UN Secretary-General expressed concern about the organization’s deteriorating liquidity situation, urging countries to make timely and full payments.
The Assembly also passed a resolution that contains language arrangements for UN official international sessions in Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and Spanish.
Editors, press officers, and assistants working in the four languages are among the 20 roles classed as general temporary help.
According to the release, the Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, also welcomed the Security Council’s unanimous adoption of Resolution 2719, 2023, on the financing of African Union-led Peace Support Operations on December 21, 2023.
“Since the beginning of his mandate, the Secretary-General has repeatedly called for a new generation of Peace Support Operations led by African partners, with guaranteed funding, including through UN assessed contributions, to address the continent’s peace and security challenges.”
“The Secretary-General is committed to further strengthening the strategic partnership with the African Union, including through the implementation of this milestone resolution,” the statement said.
The statement went on to say that the UN would continue to work with the African Union to find political solutions to crises on the continent and to improve the AU-UN consultative decision-making process specified in the resolution.
Also on Friday, the General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the killing of UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East staff and the destruction of UN-affiliated institutions in Gaza.
As of Saturday, 142 UNRWA employees had been murdered, and 123 installations had been destroyed. Other UN agencies, including the World Health Organization and the UN Development Program have also lost their personnel.
A UNDP staff member, Issam Al Mughrabi, was murdered in an Israeli air attack on Friday, along with his wife, children, and members of his extended family.
