UN chief orders travel, meetings, heat cut over cash crisis

Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations delivers a speech at the C40 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Friday. (Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

UNITED NATIONS — Meetings canceled. Escalators stopped. Official travel limited. U.N. documents delayed. Air conditioning and heating reduced.

These are some of the measures Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has ordered effective Monday at all U.N. facilities and operations around the world to deal with the United Nations’ worst cash crisis in nearly a decade.

The U.N. chief said in a letter to the heads of all U.N. entities that the emergency measures “will affect working conditions and operations until further notice.”

U.N. management chief Catherine Pollard told the General Assembly’s budget committee Friday that 128 countries had paid $1.99 billion in dues for the U.N.’s 2019 operating budget by Oct. 4. She said $1.386 billion is owed for this year by 65 countries — including more than $1 billion by the United States.