THIS CAMPAIGN IS RE-OPENED:
This campaign was initialy run from July to August to support my work during September-December with some predictability. Some of you have asked me if I would re-open my crowdfunding to give me additional support, which I will do. So contributions will be possible until 30 November.
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The United Nations (UN) is facing its most important financial crisis in decades. This is a crowdfunding campaign to support the continuation of my informed public commentary on how the UN crisis will unfold.
Since April 2025, I have published over to 200 public posts, various podcast episodes, and press interventions on UN reform & crisis (see linklist here):
I have also written a comprehensive briefing on the link between UN80 and the UN liquidity crisis:
https://www.globalgovernance.eu/publications/reforming-the-un-during-a-financial-crisis-a-foreseeable-failure-to-align-money-mandates-and-majorities
With your support, I will continue until the end of the year (December 2025), potentially into January 2026 to cover the impact of late December financial decisions, and to cover UN80 and the future of the UN system.
I work as a freelance political scientist, UN system & UN finance analyst, so this is taxable income for me (plus social security). Out of every $ or € donated, about 50-60% are paying for my daily life, the other half is work expenses, taxes, and social security.
Why me?
My name is Ronny Patz, a political scientist based in the small town of Brandenburg/Havel just outside Berlin in Germany. For >10 years, I have been doing academic research and outreach on the financing of the UN system (e.g. co-writing the book "Managing Money and Discord in the UN" and publishing a lot on this topic).
I have never worked inside the UN system but have spent a lot of time figuring out how it works:
Right now, I work as an independent (= freelance) UN analyst and author trying to combine local life with well-informed global commentary.
Why did I need support?
I could afford to continue to do my UN research and commentary until the end of August, while I worked on related topics and have sufficient income from freelance work to cross-finance my analyses and commentary.
But crunch time for the UN is the period from September until December and this fundraising campaign was meant to support my work on this from September until December.
What will I do with the funding?
With the funding I received in July and August (~€2800 for 4 months = 700€/month before taxes and social security), I can work on UN affairs for 1-2 hours a day. Over the past months, I have worked much more than that, so every additional €/$ will help me cover my daily costs and work.
Everything that I write, unless it is from additional freelance contracts, will be public and linked in my overview blog post (see top of this description):
Within my available time, I will also be available as an independent commentator/speaker for relevant non-profit events, podcasts etc. Where possible, I could help journalists, academics, activists, and UN officials from around the world to make sense of the ongoing UN crisis, explain UN finances, and help develop ideas for UN reform.
PS: And if you want to contact me, you find me on LinkedIn or here: https://polscieu.wordpress.com/about-me/ (see the imprint of my blog for my e-mail)