Structure of the United Nations System - The size and cost of the un system

Since the early 1980s, the United Nations has been criticized for being a "vast, sprawling bureaucracy," and politicians have not hesitated to call it "bloated" or "swollen." This perception led to a drive for reform in the mid-1980s during which major contributing countries initiated a 13 percent staff cut. Another round of "rationalization" of the system and its secretariats was initiated in 1991. Tightening the budget remained a focus throughout the 1990s. The proposed UN budget for the 2002–03 biennium was US $2,519 million. This represented a 0.5% real resource reduction from the 2000–2001 biennium. During the previous six years, the UN had no budgetary growth. Even in dollar terms, the UN's total budget was lower in 2002 than it was in 1994-1995. For the 2002–2003 budget, small increases were made in areas such as: international peace and security; the promotion of sustained economic growth and sustainable development; the development of Africa; the promotion of human rights; the coordination of humanitarian assistance efforts; the promotion of justice and international law; disarmament; drug control; crime prevention; and combating international terrorism.