United Nations’ New Efficiency Initiative is Aiming for Structural Changes to Operations

By Naureen Hossain
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 12 2025 – The United Nations chief announced on Wednesday (March 12) a new initiative that aims to assess areas of efficiency and improvement for the international organization to expand its efforts and recognize the need “for even greater urgency and ambition.”

Secretary-General António Guterres launched the UN80 initiative, wherein the organization is set to determine where it currently stands at fulfilling its obligations to the member states in its operations. This system-wide initiative will be carried out by a dedicated UN task force led by Under-Secretary-General for Policy Guy Ryder.

The task force will be expected to present proposals to member states in three key areas:

• Efficiencies and improvements within the existing arrangements,
• The implementation of all mandates received from Member States, and
• The need for structural changes and programme realignment within the United Nations system.

“These efforts are not ends in themselves. They are about better serving people whose very lives depend on us. They are about hardworking taxpayers around the world who underwrite everything we do. And they are about ensuring the right conditions for everyone serving under the UN flag as they undertake their critical work,” Guterres said.

As the initiative takes off, it is expected to be an ongoing process. Senior UN officials told reporters that in the immediate sense for member states, the outcomes will depend on areas over which the Secretary-General can exercise his authority. Guterres will work under the guidance of the President of the General Assembly, Philemon Yang, in consulting member states over proposed improvements. This is likely to happen on major structural realignments or in assessing current and existing mandates, which are determined by the member states.

Some structural changes within the UN system that are intended to increase effectiveness and cost-efficiency are already being put into effect. Key agencies such as UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will soon be transferring parts of their operations to the UN Office in Nairobi, Kenya.

“We have been investing in Nairobi, creating the conditions for Nairobi to receive services that are now in more expensive locations,” Guterres said on Wednesday.

While the reform agenda has been in the works for several years, it cannot be removed from the current context. As Guterres and other senior UN officials have acknowledged, the initiative will have to find ways in which the UN can operate in a cost-effective manner during a period where the organization deals with a funding crisis. Countries failing to pay their obligatory contributions in full or on time have put the UN under pressure as it works with fewer funds than they require for their operations. One senior UN official remarked that the UN80 initiative was a “response to the uncertainty of our current circumstances.”

The funding shortfall, which is most impactful in relation to humanitarian aid and development coordination, has led those agencies and programmes to take measures in reconfiguring their operations, including ending certain activities and reducing staff.

Of course, reduced humanitarian operations will have the greatest impact on the people who rely on humanitarian aid. “This goes far beyond the technical. Budgets at the United Nations are not just numbers on a balance sheet—they are a matter of life and death for millions around the world,” said Guterres.

“If [the cutoff of] humanitarian aid to fragile communities will make their life even more difficult and will have dramatic consequences, not only from a life-saving perspective but from the perspective of the most basic forms of well-being, that is something we cannot correct. We can adapt the UN, consolidate the UN, make the UN more effective and more cost-effective. What we cannot do is solve the problems of the people that we no longer are able to assist, for lack of resources.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

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