聯合國怎麼“窮”成這樣了

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

因面臨“資金週轉危機”，聯合國縮減招聘規模，減少暖氣、自動扶梯以及空調的使用

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.

暖氣和空調的使用將會受到限制。預計翻譯服務將會減少，會議上也不會再有飲用水這樣的贈品。而在 39 層樓高的聯合國秘書處大廈，一些自動扶梯和大廈外裝飾性的噴泉也將被停用。

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.***

聯合國負責預算的官員在週五公佈了節省經費的措施，其中就包含以上幾種舉措。這些官員稱，這次的資金短缺，是聯合國多年來面臨過最嚴重的一次。採取這些措施。正是為了應對本次資金短缺的危機。聯合國是一個全球性的組織，要維持事務的運作，需要靠 193 個成員國及時支付聯合國對它們收取的核定會費。

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

聯合國 2020 年的預算是 28.7 億美元，而與此同時，它 2019 年的預算中，還有 13 億美元的欠款沒有到位。

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

錢德拉莫里·拉馬納坦是聯合國的主計長。他說，有七個國家需要對尚未支付的預算中 97%的款項負責。

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.

聯合國不像國家那樣，可以在全球的資本市場中發行債券以籌藉資金，這個組織沒有國家那樣的權力。因此，對於聯合國負責預算的官員來說，在看到支出超過收入時表達擔憂不是那麼罕見的情況——這種收支情況在每個日曆年的最後一個季度時有發生。

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

不過，拉馬納坦表示，在過去十年間，曾經會準時支付會費的成員國付款的時間越來越遲了。

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.”

在被問及是否有想過聯合國會因為資金週轉的問題而停止運作時，拉馬納坦給出了一個委婉的回答。他表示：“如果這樣的趨勢繼續下去的話，聯合國因為人手短缺而停止運營的那一天，總會來到的。”