Debt to International Organizations

The United States has continued to underfund international organizations.  In order to rectify this, Contributions to International Organizations (CIO) has increased over recent years.  The FY 2010 program saw an $85 million increase from FY 2009, and FY 2009 experienced a $123 million funding increase from FY 2008.  With the Consolidated Funding legislation, the FY 2010 budget included $1.68 billion to be distributed to 45 international organizations, including the U.N., to help address the imbalances in dues payments.  This is certainly a step in the right direction.  

In addition, the U.S. began to pay dues to international organizations more than a year late.  Beginning in the 1980’s, the U.S. adopted a budgetary mechanism (the so-called Stockman plan) to garner one-time budgetary savings by deferring dues payments by nine months—into the next fiscal year.   The delayed payments have significantly limited the work of the United Nations, especially with regard to peacekeeping missions.  The most direct way in which to remedy this issue is by resynchronizing the U.S. payments to international organizations.  For more on resychronization and other recommendations, please click here.