June 22, 1999: The Senate, by a vote of 98 to 1, confirms payment of $961 million of the US's longstanding debt to the UN. However, the US attached several conditions to the payment, among which are explicit drops in the US share of the regular UN budget, from 25% to 20%, and of peacekeeping operations, from 31% to 25%. The bill will face strong opposition in the House of Representatives, where Rep. Christopher Smith (Republican) of New Jersey has vowed to reinsert the controversial anti-abortion provisions that have been instrumental in holding up the bill thus far. There are reports that the bill is a result of negotiations between Senator Jesse Helms (Republican) and US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who agreed to the legislation in order to secure the confirmation of Richard Holbrooke as US Ambassador to the UN. National Public Radio reporter Tom Gjelten maintains that the timing of the Senate's vote and Holbrooke's confirmation hearings are pivotal because "the Unites Nations is right back at the center of things internationally, the United States needs the UN to carry out a helpful role in Kosovo right now, and it would be very important to have an ambassador in that position and have the US paid up in its dues." However, the conditions outlined in the bill (click here for text of the bill) make it unlikely that it would be accepted by the UN.
June 14, 1999: The Washington Post reports that the US Congress is making a drive towards a payment of up to $1 billion on its debt to the UN. However, many in the US government maintain that Congressional approval will be tied to several US-backed reforms of the UN.
May 19, 1999: The UN Foundation announces $21 million for UN programs.
April 30, 1999: The UK has paid its full 1999 dues leaving the US, Japan, Germany, Brazil and Argentina as the last major payers with outstanding debts to the UN. By this time, total US debt has swelled to $1.638 billion and accounts for 62% of the total debt owed to the UN.
April 13, 1999: First Lady Hillary Clinton urges the US to pay their dues to the UN by saying in a speech to the Campaign to Preserve U.S. Global Leadership: " So if we do go forward with the kind of leadership that we are in a position to demonstrate in our country, then we have to do it here at home by paying our dues to the U.N., paying our share, doing our part. And with development assistance, we know that we are far behind most of our allies and friends in Europe in terms of the amount -- percentage wise -- that we provide."
April 6, 1999: The UN Foundation announces an emergency $1 million grant for UN relief efforts in the Kosovo region.
March 31, 1999: Spain has completed payment of its full 1999 dues to the UN. Still notable exceptions are the UK and the US.
March 25, 1999: There is a good deal of legislative activity in Washington D.C. which centers around the question of UN funding. There is a proposal (H.R. 1355) in the House of Representatives aimed at paying the US arrears. On the other hand, both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed legislation limiting funding for international organizations.
March 18, 1999: The Spokesman for the Secretary General responds to a New York Times article which quotes U.S. Senator Jesse Helms as claiming that the SG had agreed to a 20% assessment for the United States. The Spokesman stresses that the SG has always held that the U.S. must work out any changes in assessments with other member-states, not with the Secretariat. Furthermore, in his view the U.S. may be able to arrange for a reduction in assessments to 22% while 20% would be a long-shot. Also today, the Better World Fund of the UN Foundation runs a call by five former Secretaries of State to the U.S. Congress to pay U.N. arrears, stating that this is a "basic international responsibility." On the same day, in his press briefing on the U.N. Financial Situation, Under-Secretary-General for Management Joseph E. Connor stresses three positive indicators. Total cash reserves are higher than in previous years, unpaid assessments are lower, and amounts owed to member states are lower, partly because the U.S. has made larger regular budget cash payments at the end of '98 and because 117 member states had paid in full by the end of the year. Connor also states, however, that unstable conditions such as the unknown level of the U.S.' payment of current and former dues and ongoing debts to member states for troops and equipment are "holding the United Nations financial situation hostage."
March 15, 1999: As of March 15, 51 countries have paid their 1999 dues in full. China, Belgium, and the Republic of Korea are notable new additions to this list.
March 9, 1999: Secretary General Kofi Annan says that it is U.S. politicians in Washington who are to blame for the piling up of U.S. arrears to the U.N., not the American people.
March 8, 1999: The United Nations Foundation has announces that it has allocated $12 million to go towards the United Nations Association-USA campaign to persuade U.S. policy-makers to pay U.S. arrears to the U.N.
February 25, 1999: Secretary General Kofi Annan concludes his two-day visit to Washington D.C. where he met with many Congressmen and Administration Officials. The SG says he is encouraged by the attention given to the issue of United Nations funding in these meetings.
February 19, 1999: Australia and Italy are among the new countries to have paid their UN dues as the total number of countries reaches 35.
February 5, 1999: A letter from Secretary General Kofi Annan to the President of the General Assembly lists 42 member states who are in arrears under Article 19 of the UN Charter. The states are listed along with the amount they must pay in order to retain their vote in the GA.
February 1, 1999: The White House releases its budget proposal allocating $921 million to pay United Nations arrears. Few expect it to gain Congressional approval. Last year, budget requests for UN arrears were stalled with anti-abortion amendments.
January 31, 1999: As of January 31, 32 countries have paid their 1999 dues in full. Canada, France, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and the Netherlands have paid. Notably absent from the rolls were Japan, Brazil, Germany, and the three remaining members of the security council, the UK, the US, and China.
January 19, 1999: President Bill Clinton mentions the United Nations in his State of the Union Address, stating his desire to work with the new Congress to pay the US's "dues and debts".
January 1, 1999: The United States enters the New Year with $1.29 billion in arrears to the United Nations.
