1. Cost of United Nations
How much does the UN cost?
-The regular budget of the UN is nearly $1.9 billion per year. It pays for UN activities, staff and basic infrastructure but not peacekeeping
operations, which have a separate budget. All States of the UN are obligated by the Charter - an international treaty - to pay a portion of the budget. Each
State's contribution is calculated on the basis of its share of the world economy.
How much does the entire UN system spend each year?
-The UN system spends some $15 billion a year, taking into account the United Nations, UN peacekeeping operations, the programmes
and funds, and the specialized agencies, but excluding the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD). Around half of this amount comes from voluntary contributions from Member States, the rest from mandatory
assessments on those States.
*Since the assessments are based on gross national product (GNP), richer countries generally pay more and poorer countries less, although there are
some exceptions (e.g., Brazil pays more than Liechtenstein even though its per capita income is much lower, because its total GNP is much higher). As a
result, the top 10 contributors pay 76.44 per cent of the regular budget.
2. Economical Benefits
• The UN system is a major purchaser of goods and services, totaling over $6.4 billion a year. UNICEF buys half the vaccines produced
worldwide, while the UN Population Fund is the world's largest purchaser of contraceptives.
• U.S. companies are consistently the largest sellers of goods and services to the UN. In 2004, companies from the United States earned
nearly $316 million through procurement done by UN Headquarters in New York - more than 24 per cent of total procurement.
• The UN system defines technical standards in telecommunication, aviation, shipping and postal services, which make international
transactions possible.
• The business community and the UN share common interests in promoting economic growth and stability, creating employment and
stimulating investment. UN work - such as electoral assistance, the promotion of literacy and the eradication of disease - helps to build
stable, functioning, democratic societies. It provides the "soft investment" without which private investment could not reap a return.
3. How the United Nations makes the
World a better place.
• The UN and its agencies have improved the health of millions - immunizing the world's children, fighting malaria and parasitic disease, providing
safe drinking water and protecting consumers' health. As a result, longevity and life expectancy have increased worldwide.
• More international law has been developed through the UN in the past six decades than in the entire previous history of humankind.
• UN relief agencies together provide aid and protection to some 23.3 million refugees and displaced persons worldwide
• The UN in 1948 formulated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - an historic proclamation of the rights and freedoms to which all men and
women are entitled. Some 80 United Nations treaties protect and promote specific human rights.
• The UN has helped strengthen the democratic process by assisting elections in more than 85 countries.
• The World Food Programme - the world's largest food-aid organization - raised nearly $3 billion to feed 113 million people in some 80
countries in 2004.
• Every year, up to 3 million children's lives are saved by immunization, but almost 3 million more die from preventable diseases. UNICEF,
WHO, the World Bank Group, private foundations, the pharmaceutical industry and governments have joined in a Global Alliance for Vaccines and
Immunization that aims to reduce that figure to zero.
4. U.N. Programs
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that acts as a coordinating authority on
international public health.
Ex: Immunizations to children, prevent diseases, overall helping improve the worlds health.
UNICEF (United Nations Childrenʼs Fund) has saved more children's lives than any other humanitarian organizations.
Working in over 150 countries, UNICEF provides children with health care, clean water, nutrition, education, protection, emergency relief, and more. The U.S. Fund for UNICEF
supports UNICEF’s work through fundraising, advocacy, and education in the United States. Despite extraordinary progress, 22,000 children still die each day from preventable
causes
The United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) is an initiative launched by the United Nations in 2000 at the World Education
Forum in Dakar. It aims to reduce the gender gap in schooling for girls and to give girls equal access to all levels of education.
-UNGEI is determined and committed to accelerating action on girls’ education and revitalizing the broad social mobilization and high-level political action that is needed
to ensure that every girl, as well as every boy, goes to school.
Without the United Nations none of these organizations and benefits would be
available to the world.
