U.S. Contributions to the United Nations
Nine countries (United States, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada, Spain, and China) contribute 75%of the UN’s regular budget. The U.S. assessment is 22%, which in 2005 was $439.6 million. By contrast, Saudi Arabia’s contrition is 0.713% while Cuba’s is just 0.043%. Those numbers come from EyeontheUN, a project of the Hudson Institute.
EyeontheUN also reports that “member states contribute to the peacekeeping operations budget and the cost of international courts and tribunals.” Member states “also make voluntary contributions to UN specialized agencies and subsidiary organizations.”
In July 2006, the Office of Management and Budget forwarded “a comprehensive report showing the total U.S. contributions to the United Nations systems” to Senator Tom Coburn’s Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security. The reports 65 pages show that contributions came from virtually all federal agencies with the State Department and “Other International Programs” providing over hall of the annual totals. From 2001 to 2005, the total federal contributions were:
Year/Amount
- 2001/$3.18 billion
- 2002/$3.93 billion
- 2003/$3.84 billion
- 2004/$4.12 billion
- 2005/$5.33 billion
The EyeontheUN summary numbers are here. The OMB report to Senator Coburn’s subcommittee is here. The basic assessment is significant, but it pales in comparison to total U.S. contributions. On the effectiveness of the UN or its subsidiary organizations, we'll follow the adage of Fox News, i.e., we report, you decide.