[NEW YORK] A United Nations (UN) task force has proposed major reforms aimed at making the global body’s institutions more efficient, including broad mergers of agencies, according to an internal memo seen by AFP.
In March, secretary-general Antonio Guterres launched an initiative known as UN80 to address the UN’s chronic financial struggles, which have been exacerbated by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping cuts to international aid.
The effort has taken on added importance in recent weeks, as several UN agencies announced reductions in their services and staffing over funding shortages, including the World Food Programme and World Health Organization.
In their six-page memo, the task force described a “progressive proliferation of agencies, funds, and programmes” which it says has led to “a fragmented development system, with overlapping mandates, inefficient use of resources, and inconsistent delivery of services”.
It also highlighted “outdated working methods” within the global body and some “inflation” in the number of senior positions.
“Geopolitical shifts and substantial reductions in foreign aid budgets are challenging the legitimacy and effectiveness” of UN work, the memo said.
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Faced with these mounting issues, the memo calls to “advance a more streamlined, impactful, and fiscally responsible organisation”.
Suggestions offered by the task force include consolidating some of the secretariat’s departments – such as merging the “Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs” with the “Department of Peace Operations.”
It also proposes to create a “single humanitarian entity”, potentially through the merger of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration.
Other ideas include a consolidation of various international development entities, combining UN Climate with the UN Environment Programme, and merging the UN Population Fund – which specialises in maternal and child health – with UN Women.
“The memo is genuinely quite radical,” Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group told AFP.
He noted however that some of the major institutional reforms would require “approvals from the General Assembly and other governing bodies”.
“This is where the whole process could get enormously messy, because different states have different interests in different parts of the UN,” he said.
“We do not know how far Guterres will run with these ideas, but he is now in his final period in office, so he may decide to go out with a bang!”
Guterres is set to update member states on the reform effort in the coming weeks. AFP
