UN approves 9.1% budget increase for MINURSO operations

The UN General Assembly has approved a budget of $75.35 million for the operations of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) from July 2024 to June 2025. This represents a 9.1% increase compared to the previous fiscal year.

The financial allocation is broken down into several components: $68.79 million for the day-to-day running of MINURSO; around $5 million to fund the peacekeeping support account; $872,000 for the UN Logistics Base in Brindisi, Italy; and $686,000 for the Regional Service Centre in Entebbe, Uganda, according to an African media outlet.

Last May, the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) recommended a 9.1% increase in MINURSO's budget. For his part, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had already called for an increase in MINURSO's budget in his annual reports on the Sahara issue.