Press release: 1,200+ Feminist Organisations and Allies Call on Major Powers to Pay Up and Defend the United Nations

PRESS RELEASE
19 February 2026, New York

Women’s Major Group and 1,200+ signatories from 123 countries warn that withholding funds sets a dangerous precedent for global democracy and human rights.

The Women’s Major Group, together with 566 organisations and 697 individuals, has issued a joint feminist statement warning that powerful Member States are using non-payment of financial obligations as political leverage, placing the United Nations at risk during a period of escalating global crises.

Signatories include feminist, human rights, environmental, development and gender justice organisations from across all UN’s regions.

The statement comes amid an acute financial crisis at the United Nations. Major contributors including the United States, Russia and China have accumulated significant arrears or made deliberate delays, creating pressure on the institution’s liquidity and raising concerns about potential disruption to core operations.

“Money is being used as a tool of political pressure,” said Mabel Bianco, from FEIM speaking on behalf of the Women’s Major Group. “When powerful governments withhold what they owe, they are not simply delaying payments. They are weakening the multilateral system and the global norms that protect human rights, gender equality and democratic accountability.”

The signatories argue that allowing a small number of states to destabilise the UN through non-payment risks normalising financial coercion as a geopolitical strategy.

“At a time when the world faces climate and ecological breakdown, rising conflict and deepening inequality, weakening the only universal intergovernmental system we have is reckless,” said Noelene Nabulivou, DIVA for Equality, Fiji. “This sets a dangerous precedent for global cooperation.”

“Only making announcements of future payments to the UN are clearly not enough. All Member States must meet their existing obligations. The integrity of the United Nations depends on full and timely payment, and failing to pay bills as a political game is normalising inacceptable sabotage against multilateral institutions,” said Sascha Gabizon, Women Engage for a Common Future, The Netherlands.

Young feminist leaders have also expressed concern about the long term implications: ”Starving the UN of resources is a political choice that threatens the protection of rights, gender justice, and the most vulnerable communities across the globe. Multilateralism works only when Member States uphold their obligations, not when it is treated as a bargaining chip,” the Young Feminist Caucus stated.

The joint statement calls on all Member States to fulfil their financial obligations in full and on time, and urges the international community to reject the use of non-payment as political leverage. It further calls for UN reform processes to be protected from financial coercion and from capture by profit driven or authoritarian interests.

The statement will be formally transmitted to relevant Permanent Missions and UN decision makers.

The full text of the statement and list of signatories are available here: [Link to statement]

Additional reading

The Young Feminist Caucus’ statement: “The United Nations’ Financial Crisis: An Urgent Duty to Defend and Fund Multilateralism” (link)
Global South Coalition on SRHR and Development Justice’s statement: “A call to action: safeguarding SRHR in the UN80 reform” (link)