Vanuatu voting rights at UN suspended over unpaid annual contributions

Vanuatu is one of six countries that has lost its vote in the United Nations General Assembly because it failed to pay its annual contributions.

Vanuatu needs to pay the UN a minimum US $19 107 to regain voting.

The suspension became effective on January 25 when UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres notified the president of the UN General Assembly that 13 countries would be temporarily losing their right to vote in the forum.

The notification states that “the amount owed is equal to or greater than the total of the installments owed for the previous two full years (2015-2016).”

Under Article 19 of the Charter of the United Nations, related to the membership requirements that must be honored by member states, the countries cannot participate in any vote that the General Assembly may make at its seventy-first session until it cancels its debts.

As of February 21, 2017, the UN Contribution Committee reported that ten member states are in arrears under Article 19, but only six are unable to vote in the General Assembly, these include: Cape Verde, Libya, Papua New Guinea, Sudan, Vanuatu, and Venezuela.

Article 19 allows a vote in the General Assembly if it can be proven that the country cannot pay its dues “for reasons beyond its control”
   
Source: UN