联合国怎么 穷 成这样了「联合国有钱吗」

Facing ‘cash-flowcrisis,’ the U.N. cuts hiring, heating, escalators and air conditioning

因面临“资金周转危机”，联合国缩减招聘规模，减少暖气、自动扶梯以及空调的使用

Heating and air conditioning willbe curtailed. Expect fewertranslations and no conferencefreebies, like water. And at the 39-story Secretariat building, someescalators and the decorativewater fountain outside areshutting down.

暖气和空调的使用将会受到限制。预计翻译服务将会减少，会议上也不会再有饮用水这样的赠品。而在 39 层楼高的联合国秘书处大厦，一些自动扶梯和大厦外装饰性的喷泉也将被停用。

These were among the money-saving measures announced byU.N. budget officials Friday, inresponse to what they called themost acute cash shortage in yearsconfronting the globalorganization, which to keepoperations running relies onprompt payment of theassessments billed to its 193members.***

联合国负责预算的官员在周五公布了节省经费的措施，其中就包含以上几种举措。这些官员称，这次的资金短缺，是联合国多年来面临过最严重的一次。采取这些措施。正是为了应对本次资金短缺的危机。联合国是一个全球性的组织，要维持事务的运作，需要靠 193 个成员国及时支付联合国对它们收取的核定会费。

The organization’s $2.87 billionbudget for next year comes withan outstanding balance of $1.3billion still owed for this year.

联合国 2020 年的预算是 28.7 亿美元，而与此同时，它 2019 年的预算中，还有 13 亿美元的欠款没有到位。

Chandramouli Ramanathan, theController, said seven nations areresponsible for 97% of the unpaidbudget.

钱德拉莫里·拉马纳坦是联合国的主计长。他说，有七个国家需要对尚未支付的预算中 97%的款项负责。

Unlike nations that can borrowmoney in global capital marketsby issuing bonds, the UnitedNations has no such authority. Soit is not so unusual for theorganization’s budget officials toexpress worry when they seetheir expenses outpacing revenue, which often happens in the finalquarter of the calendar year.

联合国不像国家那样，可以在全球的资本市场中发行债券以筹借资金，这个组织没有国家那样的权力。因此，对于联合国负责预算的官员来说，在看到支出超过收入时表达担忧不是那么罕见的情况——这种收支情况在每个日历年的最后一个季度时有发生。

But Ramanathan said that overthe past decade, member statesthat have historically paid ontime are increasingly delayingpayments.

不过，拉马纳坦表示，在过去十年间，曾经会准时支付会费的成员国付款的时间越来越迟了。

Asked if he envisioned the UnitedNations shutting down because ofthe cash-flow problem, Ramanathan supplied adiplomatic answer. “There willcome a point when you do nothave enough staff to run theplace,” he said, “if the trendcontinues.”

在被问及是否有想过联合国会因为资金周转的问题而停止运作时，拉马纳坦给出了一个委婉的回答。他表示：“如果这样的趋势继续下去的话，联合国因为人手短缺而停止运营的那一天，总会来到的。”