The United Nations celebrates its 80th anniversary, marking eight decades since the UN Charter was signed in 1945. We examine the UN’s founding purposes, including maintaining international peace and promoting human rights. However, this milestone is overshadowed by a severe liquidity crisis resulting from member states, including Permanent Five (P5) members, failing to pay their mandatory contributions. We detail the two main funding types (assessed vs. voluntary) and explore the proposed UN80 reform initiative, which seeks to streamline operations, reduce duplication, and ensure the UN is fit for modern global challenges.

Key Takeaways

• The UN Charter was signed on 26 June 1945, establishing the organization with the goals of saving succeeding generations from war and promoting social progress.
• The UN System is broader than the main organization, encompassing specialized agencies like the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• The UN faces a worsening cash crisis because many member states are not paying their legally-binding assessed contributions in full or on time.
• As of October 2025, the top three states owing significant arrears to the UN’s regular budget are the US, China, and Russia—all permanent members of the Security Council.
• The Security Council is the main decision-making body for international peace and security, composed of five permanent members (P5: China, France, Russia, UK, US) and ten elected non-permanent members.
• The UK supports reforming the Security Council to include permanent membership for countries such in Africa, as well as Germany, Japan, India, and Brazil.
• The UN80 Initiative aims to find efficiencies, review mandates, and potentially merge or streamline agencies (like UNFPA and UN Women) to better align the UN’s actions with its goals.

Source: The United Nations at 80: Paper Series
Research Briefing
Published Wednesday, 29 October, 2025

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Contains Parliamentary information repurposed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.