A Cop30 signage in Belém, 23 March 2025. (Keystone/AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

Cop of flop? Priced out of Belém, Geneva delegations keep it low-key. Less than two weeks out from the climate summit in Belém, Geneva-based UN agencies, NGOs and civil society regulars scale back their delegations – squeezed by budget constraints and sky-high hotel prices.

💸CRUNCHING NUMBERS. The International Organization for Migration’s finance committee will meet on Wednesday and Thursday to pore over the books of the cash-strapped UN agency.

At the committee’s last meeting in June, IOM boss Amy Pope laid out for member states the grim prospects, with projected funding for this year plunging from $4billion to $2.9bn.

Since Washington’s aid cuts – which once covered nearly half of the IOM’s budget – the agency has axed 6,000 staff across 49 countries, including 20 per cent of its Geneva HQ.

Next year looks even leaner with a proposed budget of $2.63bn, half of which is more or less secured.

Pulling strings. She recalled that a mere four per cent of the IOM’s budget comes with no strings attached. She asked those who are already donors to turn five to 10 per cent of what they’re giving into flexible funding, while urging others to step up.

The idea has yet to rally much excitement, with only a couple of member states, including Belgium, pledging support at the June meeting.

Please, please, please. Arguing that the overdependence on a handful of donors was “not sustainable”, she unveiled a new flexible fund of $100 million to “maintain its core humanitarian operations”.

Do better. While welcoming efforts to contain the budget crisis, the European Union complained about “shortcomings in timely publication and completeness of documents provided ahead of briefings and the Standing Committee” as well as details remaining vague about structural realignments.

Times of need. The money woes come at a bad time for the agency as a war in Sudan rages on. Along with the UN agencies for refugees and food, the IOM called last week for financial support to bring aid to thousands returned to Khartoum and others remain under siege in El-Fasher.

– By Michelle Langrand