The UN General Assembly, comprising 193 member states, has approved the UN's regular budget for 2026 at $3.45 billion after weeks of negotiations.

The approved budget will be allocated to the UN's three core areas of work over the next year: peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights.

This budget is approximately $200 million more than the one proposed by the Secretary-General under the "UN80 reform initiative," but it represents a reduction of about 7% compared to the 2025 budget.

The UN80 reform initiative includes a 15% cut in financial resources and a reduction of approximately 19% in personnel. These reform proposals emerged after the Trump administration, stating its expectation for "ambitious and concrete reform proposals" including structural reorganization, efficiency improvements, and the elimination of duplication for the 2027 and 2028 budgets, urged the Secretary-General to present "bold proposals that will bring about the structural changes the UN urgently needs."

Ambassador Mike Waltz (Republican) to the UN stated on X (formerly Twitter) that night, "President Trump said he wanted a smaller, more focused UN, and he is getting one. Thanks to strong American leadership, today the UN budget was adopted."

"$570 million saved and approximately 2,900 bureaucratic positions eliminated! The UN has not seen reforms like this in 30 years. This is real change that saves American taxpayer dollars and leads to a leaner, more effective UN that stays true to its core mission," Waltz said.

The regular budget funds the UN's core activities, including politics, international justice and law, regional development cooperation, human rights, humanitarian affairs, and public information.

This is separate from the UN peacekeeping budget. While the peacekeeping budget operates on a fiscal year from July 1 to June 30, the regular budget follows the calendar year. The UN General Assembly previously approved $5.4 billion for the 2025-2026 UN peacekeeping budget on July 1.

Chandru Ramanathan, the UN's Director of Budget, stated that 2,900 positions will be abolished starting January 1, 2026, and that careful management is needed to ensure that over 1,000 employees whose retirement processes are already complete can continue to receive salaries and benefits during the transition period.

Member states reportedly engaged in intense debates over the past six weeks. The UN stated in a press release that these discussions were further complicated by cash flow issues, late or incomplete payment of assessed contributions by member states, and the need to balance financial discipline with the requirements of the organization's operations.

As of December 1, the UN has $1.586 billion in outstanding contributions. Ramanathan urged member states to "send in their contributions as soon as possible," noting that many countries had already prepaid their 2026 assessments.

By Sung Ku Hong, Chief Reporter, NNP USA / Special Contribution to This Newspaper NNP info@newsandpost.com