Azerbaijan pays UN dues in full

Only 22 countries have paid their UN dues in full, and the United States, the top contributor to the UN budget, has yet to pay all its dues, a top UN official said here Wednesday, Xinhua reported.

The nations, which account for 11.4 percent of all UN member states, have paid all their dues for the UN's 2008-2009 regular budget, peacekeeping, international tribunals and renovations of the UN Headquarters in New York, Angela Kane, UN undersecretary- general for management, told a press conference here.

"The financial health of the organization depends on member states including the major contributors meeting their financial obligations in full and on time," Kane said.

The paid-in-full members include Australia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Congo, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, New Zealand, Niger, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland and Tajikistan.

UN member states still owe a total of 3.1 billion U.S. dollars for the 2008-2009 period -- 2.1 billion dollars for peacekeeping, 828 million dollars for the core budget, 63 million for the international tribunals and 86 million for the renovation of the UN Headquarters in New York, she said.

There are 123 countries that have cleared their bills for the UN regular budget, and only 84 nations have paid for UN international tribunals, she said.

The United States has said it was ready to pay the more than 2 billion dollars in new and old assessments it owes the world body for peacekeeping operations, she said.