FINANCING THE UNITED-NATIONS - SOME POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

This article suggests four basic propositions. First, financing is not an issue of UN policies or of UN management. Every member-state accep ts an outright treaty obligation to pay its shave of the organization' s costs. The Charter gives no licence whatever to pay or not to pay on e's dues according to whether one likes or dislikes some facet of UN w ork. Second, discussion of the financing of the UN should proceed from the Charter's principles of democratic revenue raising and governance , which plainly need reinforcement. Third, we should certainly explore additional sources, beyond the present triplicate framework of contin uous dues assessment for regular budgets, ad hoc assessments for peace keeping, and voluntary funding of development and humanitarian activit ies. But they should be additional sources-not devices to compensate f or any state not paying its assessments. Fourth, UN financing is extre mely vulnerable to disinformation and lack of information.