UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has instructed all UN peacekeeping missions funded under the peacekeeping budget to immediately implement their contingency measures for funding shortfalls, a senior UN official said Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at a background briefing, the official said UN peacekeeping arrears exceeded 2 billion U.S. dollars at the current budget cycle starting from July 2025. In addition, the United Nations faces delayed, partial, or non-payment of dues by some member states.

The contingency measures include carefully calibrated reductions across uniformed components, civilian staffing and operational activities, with efforts focused on preserving mandate-critical functions and maintaining safety and security.

"We have no choice but to implement the plans to prevent the financial collapse of the operations, and we obviously profoundly regret having to do this, but we have, again, no other option," the official said.

UN peacekeeping missions will have to identify cost reductions equal to 15 percent of their budgets, to be implemented during a nine-month period, the official said. They have to repatriate, or reduce, around 25 percent of their total peacekeeping troops and police, as well as their equipment.

All UN member states need to pay their dues in full and on time, which is the only way to adequately sustain peacekeeping operations, the official said.

In late June, the UN General Assembly approved a 5.38 billion dollars' budget for UN peacekeeping operations for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, down slightly from the previous year. ■