Cause of UN's liquidity difficulties clear

Editor's Note: At the Second Part of the Resumed Session of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary Committee) of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Deputy Permanent Representative and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to the United Nations Dai Bing urged the "largest contributor" to the UN to take the lead in fulfilling its financial obligations to the world body so that adequate resources can be allocated to the peacekeeping security agenda. Excerpts:

China always supports the Fifth Committee's efforts to review the peacekeeping budget under the fact-based, science-based and prudent principle to approve the budget on time, and to provide necessary resources for peacekeeping operations.

The Secretariat should continue to strengthen the comprehensive budgetary performance, improve internal control, and vigorously enforce financial discipline to make sure that every penny from member states is well-spent, and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of peacekeeping operations.

Regarding the financial situation, there will never be a real solution to the liquidity difficulty as long as the root cause remains unresolved. Any potential solution should not lead to an additional financial burden for member states, especially developing countries.

Reform initiatives aimed at improving the financial situation of the UN should be strictly in line with the spirit of the UN Charter, adhere to the member state-driven principles, strengthen financial discipline, and improve comprehensive budgetary performance.

Regarding the investment in prevention and peacekeeping, we believe that channels of peacebuilding financing should be diversified through innovative partnerships, and the UN should clarify its existing mandate arrangements, so as to avoid adding any unnecessary financial burden on member states. The peacebuilding budget should be prepared strictly in accordance with the UN financial regulations and rules.

As the largest developing country, China has its own important tasks to undertake, such as combating the COVID-19 pandemic, developing its national economy, and improving people's livelihoods. However, China has still managed to actively fulfill its financial obligations, and recently contributed more than $200 million to the UN.

We call upon all member states, especially those with the paying capacity, to pay their assessed contributions as well as any outstanding arrears in full and on time, in order to support the UN in playing its central role in global governance.