KABUL: Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, has warned that the organization is facing the risk of “imminent financial collapse.” According to Reuters, this warning was issued in a letter to the member states of the United Nations. While Guterres has previously discussed the liquidity crisis within the organization, this is considered to be his most severe warning to date. The crisis has intensified particularly after a reduction in financial support from the United States, the main sponsor of the UN. The U.S. has refrained from mandatory payments to the organization’s regular budgets, leading some of its agencies to face budget shortfalls. In his letter, Guterres stated, “The crisis is deepening, threatening the implementation of programs and raising the risk of financial collapse. The situation is expected to worsen in the near future.” UN agencies in Afghanistan, which are primarily responsible for providing humanitarian assistance, have also repeatedly expressed concern over their decreasing budgets in recent years.
