While decisions about establishing, maintaining or expanding a peacekeeping operation are taken by the Security Council, the financing of UN Peacekeeping operations is the collective responsibility of all UN Member States.
UN Photo/Marie Frechon
UNAMID holds a ceremony in Nyala, Sudan, to celebrate the arrival of five tactical helicopters from the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Pictured is one of the long-awaited helicopters.
Every Member State is legally obligated to pay their respective share towards peacekeeping. This is in accordance with the provisions of Article 17 of the Charter of the United Nations.
The General Assembly apportions peacekeeping expenses based on a special scale of assessments under a complex formula that Member States themselves have established. This formula takes into account, among other things, the relative economic wealth of Member States, with the five permanent members of the Security Council required to pay a larger share because of their special responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
The General Assembly reaffirmed these and other general principles underlying the financing of peacekeeping operations inresolution 55/235 
(23 December 2000)
More on how UN Peacekeeping is financed.
See the scale of assessments applicable to UN peacekeeping operations in the selected General Assembly documents.
How much does peacekeeping cost?
The budget for UN Peacekeeping operations for the fiscal year 1 July 2010-30 June 2011 is about $7.83 billion [A/C.5/65/15] .
By way of comparison, this is less than half of one per cent of world military expenditures in 2009.
The estimated cost of all UN Peacekeeping operations from 1948 to June 2010 amounts to about $69 billion.
- United States (27.14%)
- Japan (12.53%)
- United Kingdom (8.15%)
- Germany (8.02%)
- France (7.55%)
- Italy (5.00%)
- China (3.93%)
- Canada (3.21%)
- Spain (3.18%)
- Republic of Korea (2.26%)
Many countries have also voluntarily made additional resources available to support UN Peacekeeping efforts on a non-reimbursable basis in the form of transportation, supplies, personnel and financial contributions above and beyond their assessed share of peacekeeping costs.
Although the payment of peacekeeping assessments is mandatory, as of 31 January 2011, Member States owed approximately $3.72 billion in current and back peacekeeping dues.
Approved resources for peacekeeping operations in selected General Assembly documents.
How are resources budgeted?
Budgets of peacekeeping operations are based on the missions’ mandate from the Security Council. As such, they are strategic documents aligning resources to achieve the overall objectives of the operation.
Each peacekeeping operation has its own budget and account which includes operational costs such as transport and logistics and staff costs such as salaries.
The peacekeeping budget cycle runs from 1 July to 30 June. This cycle is rarely aligned with the Security Council mandate; however budgets are prepared for 12 months based on of the most current mandate of the operation.
The Secretary-General submits budget proposal to the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ). The ACABQ reviews the proposal and makes recommendations to the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee for its review and approval. Ultimately, the budget is endorsed by the General Assembly as a whole.
At the end of the financial cycle, each peacekeeping operation prepares and submits a performance report which shows the actual use of resources. This report is also considered and approved by the General Assembly.
More on the process of establishing peacekeeping operation budget.
How are peacekeepers compensated?
The UN has no military forces of its own, and Member States provide, on a voluntary basis, the military and police personnelrequired for each peacekeeping operation.
Peacekeeping soldiers are paid by their own Governments according to their own national rank and salary scale. Countries volunteering uniformed personnel to peacekeeping operations are reimbursed by the UN at a flat rate of a little over US$1,028 per soldier per month, as most recently approved by the General Assembly in 2002.
Police and other civilian personnel are paid from the peacekeeping budgets established for each operation.
The UN also reimburses Member States for providing equipment, personnel and support services to military or police contingents.
| Date | Title* | Symbol |
|---|---|---|
| 7 February 2011 | Approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011 | A/C.5/65/15 |
| 13 July 2010 | Approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011 | A/C.5/64/19 |
| 22 January 2010 | Approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010 | A/C.5/64/15 |
| 4 August 2009 | Approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010 | A/C.5/63/26 |
| 1 May 2009 | Approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009 | A/C.5/63/23 |
| 31 January 2008 | Approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008 | A/C.5/62/23 |
| 15 January 2007 | Approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007 | A/C.5/61/18 |
* All documents above are in PDF format.