The UN General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution on the Secretary‑General’s UN80 Initiative to strengthen and streamline the United Nations system. 

In the resolution, introduced by Russia and adopted without a vote, the 193-member Assembly “recognises the central role of Member States in the reform process, which should be inclusive and transparent”.

What is UN80 Initiative?

• This year marked the 80th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter.

• In March this year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced a new initiative aimed at improving efficiencies at the 80-year-old world organisation.

• It seeks not only to improve efficiency, but also to reassert the value of multilateralism at a time when trust is low and needs are high. 

• It aims to reinforce the UN’s capacity to respond to today’s global challenges  — ranging from conflict, displacement, and inequality to climate shocks and rapid technological change — while also responding to external pressures such as shrinking budgets and growing political divisions in the multilateral space.

Three tracks of reform

At the heart of UN80 are three major workstreams: 

i) The first is focused on improving internal efficiency and effectiveness, cutting red tape, and optimising the UN’s global footprint by relocating some functions to lower-cost duty stations. 

ii) The second workstream is a mandate implementation review, which involves examining nearly 4,000 mandate documents underpinning the UN Secretariat’s work. A mandate refers to a task or responsibility assigned to the organisation by the Member States, usually through resolutions adopted by UN organs such as the General Assembly or the Security Council. These mandates guide what the UN does — from peacekeeping operations and humanitarian aid to human rights and environmental action. Over the decades, at least 40,000 mandates have accumulated, sometimes overlapping or becoming outdated, which is why reviewing them is a key part of the UN80 initiative .

iii) The third stream explores whether structural changes and programme realignment are needed across the UN System.

• To tackle reform across such a complex system, the Secretary-General established seven thematic clusters under the UN80 Task Force, each coordinated by senior UN leaders from across the system. These cover peace and security, humanitarian action, development (Secretariat and UN system), human rights, training and research, and specialised agencies.

• Each cluster is expected to produce proposals to improve coordination, reduce fragmentation, and realign functions where needed.

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