UN adds 5% to Budget for 2012-2013

(United Nations) – UN General Assembly has approved an increase of about 5 percent in budget to cover the United Nations’ regular operations in 2012-2013, raising the two-year budget to about $5.4 billion. More than half the increase is due to additional costs for some of the 33 special UN political missions which include UN envoys for Syria, Yemen, Libya and Sudan-South Sudan and large operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
China, Russia, Brazil and other countries with growing economies will have to pay an increased share, European Union contributions will drop, and the US ceiling for the regular budget will remain the same at 22 percent.