Funding and personnel for United Nations peacekeeping operations dropped to a 25-year low last year after major donors, led by the US, did not pay their mandatory commitments on time, a report by…

Funding and personnel for United Nations peacekeeping operations dropped to a 25-year low last year after major donors, led by the US, did not pay their mandatory commitments on time, a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) has shown.

Key points

• In July 2025, some 35 percent of the UN's $5.6bn budget for peacekeeping was missing, forcing several missions to cut personnel.
• As of 31 December 2025, just 78,633 international personnel were deployed on peace operations, which is 49 percent less than in 2016, and the lowest level since at least the year…
• And while the numbers have been in decline throughout the decade, last year saw the sharpest year-on-year drop at 17 percent.
• "If things continue in this way, we could see a dramatic weakening of multilateral conflict management and the near-complete sidelining of institutions like the United Nations…
• "The result is likely to be more conflicts, and these conflicts are likely to have even graver impacts on civilians as states abandon long-established norms." The US and China…