The U.N. Secretary-General has appealed to the U.N.’s General Assembly to provide a reserve fund of nearly $29 million to ensure the Khmer Rouge tribunal stays afloat through 2015, according to documents made public Wednesday.
In a U.N. report dated October 20 but published online Wednesday, Ban Ki-moon makes an official request for a funding package that can only be used if voluntary donations run dry.
According to the report, the tribunal has a budget of more than $34 million for next year, but current pledges from donor nations total just $3.5 million.
In April, the cash-strapped tribunal, which for several years has faced what Mr. Ban calls “a continuing financial crisis,” was granted $15.54 million in financial assistance from the U.N., to be used only if voluntary donations to the international side of the court run out, which has not been tapped into.
Mr. Ban’s report says an unnamed donor nation diverted $1 million to help cover national staff salaries in April.
While loans had to be made from the international side to pay salaries in August and September, the report says that at the time of writing, there were no funds available for the final quarter of 2014.
Last year, national staff went on strike twice over unpaid salaries.
