Essay Sample on United Nations System: A Global Family of Organizations

Introduction

The United Nations system is composed of several organizations that are established under the Charter of the United Nations and other specialized organizations provided in conformity with Article 57 of the Charter as well as several programs created by the General Assembly according to its authority provided in Article 22 of the Charter. The United Nations system has been regarded as a unit of a family, with each having different legislative frameworks, diverse mandates, historical backgrounds, and governing bodies. These organizations are collectively referred to as organizations of the United Nations system, which is made up of states in and outside the United Nations Common System ("Funding the United Nations," 2019). The organizations within the U.N. system cover diverse organizational entities such as commissions, centers, programs, organizations, and agencies with varied functional and institutional structures. The main subsidiary bodies and organs of the U.N. Secretariat are contained in the normal budget of the U.N. as sanctioned by the General Assembly.

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System of Assessments of Contributions Within the United Nations

The United Nations System of organizations is a worldwide international organization that performs many duties as far as international relations are concerned. It was primarily created to look into international security and peace. In this regard, its founder member state realized that security and peace could not be accomplished without giving the necessary attention to the issues of rights which include; individual, political, social, economic, legal, and environmental. The United Nations system is a global organization made up of 193 member states in its entirety (Childers & Urquhart, 1999). Its various member states primarily fund the United Nations. The contribution of each member state is determined based on the assessment which is normally done after every 3 years. This assessment usually takes into consideration the Gross National Product (GNP), external debt, and per capita income for member countries to fix the quantum or ratio of contribution.

Article 17 of the United Nations Charter illustrates that the General Assembly of the United Nations is mandated to ascertain the basic foundation for payment of the contribution or expenses required by the organization. Once the quantum has been determined by the General Assembly, the expenses are borne by the member countries. All the 193 member countries of the U.N. are supposed to make their payments to the organization as a requirement for membership. The quantum amount each member country required to pay, referred to as assessed contribution, normally varies across the members ("Funding the United Nations," 2019). This amount is determined through the use of a complex formula that takes into consideration the population and gross national income of a specific member. These assessed and compulsory payments by member states assist the United Nations to fund regular budget covering several programs, administrative costs, and peacekeeping security operations. Assessed contributions are geared towards financing other United Nations bodies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) (Taylor, 1991). The United Nations system under stress: financial pressures and their consequences Also, member countries pay voluntary contributions to the UN body.

Moreover, on the assessment of contributions by member countries, the Committee on Contributions normally advises the General Assembly on matters apportionment under Article 17 of the Chamber. The expenses to the UN organization among the member countries were broadly determined according to their capacity to pay (Douhan, 2016). Also, the Committee on Contributions advises the General Assembly on such assessments intended to be given to new members and on any appeals made by members intending to change their assessments. The complex formula requires each of the 193 members of the United Nations organization to pay a certain percentage as determined by the General Assembly of both the United Nations peacekeeping budget and regular working budget. For instance, the United States is required to pay its assessed contributions of 28% of the peacekeeping budget and 22% of the general budget.

The United Nations system organization is composed of components that are interconnected together, such as peacekeeping operations, specialized agencies, the U.N. body itself, and voluntary programs and funds. United Nations organizations are largely financed through contributions from the member countries, which are composed of voluntary and assessed contributions. In the case of assessed contributions, member countries of the United Nations are assessed with a certain percentage of the total budget of the organization (Dubbudu, 2016). The assessments determined by each member country of the organization provide a regular source of finances to the United Nations entities to implement intended programs and to the staff. Such payment contribution by members is treated as a treaty requirement accepted by a specific country upon becoming a member of the United Nations. The United Nations' regular budget, specialized agencies, and peacekeeping operations are mainly financed through assessed contributions even though some other organizations receive voluntary financing.

The General Assembly negotiates and adopts the U.N. regular budget for two years or biennium and is revised at mid-budget to reflect new changes and other programs. As indicated in the United Nations Charter, decisions regarding budget are normally made by a majority of two-thirds of members present and voting with each member country having at least one vote in the assembly. For instance, in the 1980s, budget decisions have been majority adopted through consensus with little exceptions (Otto, 1996). The General Assembly in the United Nations every 3 years negotiates the assessment scale for the budget decisions taking into account the country's ability or capacity to pay. The Committee on Contributions in the assembly recommends levels of assessment based on economic data and gross national income, with minimum and maximum assessment levels of 0.001% and 22% respectively. Currently, for example, the United States of America is assessed at a level of 22% is one of the highest of any other United Nations member country. Other members such as Germany, Japan, France, and China are top contributors to the regular budget.

The Assessments Development

This paper illustrates how assessments of contributions were developed within the United Nations system by member countries. As part of the United Nations systems mandate to get financing from various donors and other agencies, the assessment of contributions by member countries was developed while taking into consideration per capita income, external debt, Gross National Product (GNP), and capacity to pay by member countries. Article 17 of the United Nations Charter, illustrates that the United Nations' General Assembly is mandated to determine and develop the basis by which members will pay their expenses to the organization. In this regard, the Assembly broadly decided that the expenses of the member countries will be specifically assessed according to their capacity to pay the stated quantum. An 18-member committee of experts on contributions usually sits every year to review and develop the level of assessments. After every end of the third year, the committee of experts on contributions re-evaluates the level of assessments before the decision of the General Assembly to approve the scale of contributions for the next three-year period. For instance, on 24th December 2009, the General Assembly' 64th session adopted and developed a revised level of assessments for the period 2010 to 2012.

In determining the level of assessments of member countries, the Committee on Contributions uses different estimates of Gross National Product, per capita income, and other adjustments such as economic data of each member country. Furthermore, the U.N. General Assembly directed that the share percentage of the assessments range from 0.001% to 22% and 0.01% at maximum for less developed member countries. According to the provisions of the United Nations, the 22% scale for the top largest contributors benefited the United States of America, whose Gross National Product is about 27%. The scale of assessment of each member country was developed as a result of groping contributing countries into key categories. This includes; largest top contributors such as the United States, "Other Major Contributors" assessed at 1% or more, "Middle Contributors" assessed at 0.5% or more, and "Rest of Membership" (Childers, & Urquhart, 1999). The assessment was based on a particular percentage of the total regular budget of the United Nations. Also, scale assessment was developed through the use of a complex formula initiated and adopted by the General Assembly following the laid down procedures. A tangle of programs, resolutions, financial architecture and national interests of the United Nations was also taken into account by the organization itself.

The Basis for the Assessment of Each Nation

Every member country of the United Nations is required to pay expenses to the United Nations. The expenses are determined based on the level of assessments. According to the U.N., the Committee on Contributions is mandated with the responsibility of determining the quantum level of contribution (Ziring et al., 2005). The Committee on Contributions applies the use of estimates in deciding the level of assessments of the member countries' per capita income, GNP, and external debt as well as other adjustments. Thus, the assessment takes into consideration the Gross National Product of a specific country with discounts provided for low-income levels as well as its external debt. Concerning the standard budget of the United Nations. Similarly, such assessments are normally done for other entities of the United Nations organization. In determining assessment contribution to the security operations, changes are effected for Gross National product average per-capita as compared to the worldwide average GNP.

As required by the U.N. General Assembly, the United States is the top largest contributor among member countries contributes the highest share of twenty-two percent. This is because its Gross National Product is about twenty-seven percent in regards to the total Gross National Product of the United Nations member states; hence, its share contribution is justified. Also, Japan is the second-largest contributor after the United States with 9.68%, then China, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom at the top five (Yussuf, et al. 2007). Statistics show that eighteen member countries contribute at least one percent each to the regular budget of the United Nations. Countries such as Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and about 135 member states contribute not more than 0.1% each. Out of all the 193 members of the United Nations, the largest top 20 contributors make approximately 83.78%, whereas the other 173 members contribute approximately 16.22% of the total regular budget.

All the 193 member countries making up the United Nations organization are supposed to make their payments to some of the specific areas of the entity as a requirement of membership. The quantum of each member state differs widely from one member country to the other because the determination is based on a complex formula that takes into account population and gross national product. Members make mandatory contributions as well as voluntary contributions, which help the United Nations to fund its regular budget which in...