UN80 – No 1: What is it and why is it important for civil society organizations?
Tuesday, October 21, 2025 at 11:58AM Background
The UN80 Initiative was launched by the Secretary-General on 11 March 2025 in response to the political and financial circumstances and those in which “the effectiveness of multilateralism is [being held]up for scrutiny…”[1] The initiative is, therefore, related to the current “turbulent times”, exacerbated by the failure of the United States and other countries to pay their dues.
Previous reform efforts had been made by UN Secretaries-General, including in 2006 by Kofi Annan focused on management reforms of the Secretariat, as in Investing in the United Nations, which included a review of the mandates which various UN bodies, such as the General Assembly, the Security Council, Economic and Social Council and Human Rights Council had given to the Secretariat to implement.
What is the UN80 Initiative?
The UN80 Initiative is a “system-wide push to streamline operations, sharpen impact, and reaffirm the UN’s relevance for rapidly changing world.”[2] It relates to the working of the UN Secretariat and UN-entities to enable their capacities to respond to the global challenges, at the same time as responding to “pressures such a shrinking budgets and growing political divisions in the multilateral space.”
Secretary-General’s response to the situation
(a) Workstreams
In response to the situation, the Secretary-General set up three workstreams:
Workstream 1 to focus on “improving internal efficiencies and effectiveness, cutting red tape, and optimizing the UN’s global footprint by relocating some functions to lower-cost duty stations”, specifically targeting burdensome procedures and duplications.
Workstream 2 to review mandate implementation, given that the work of the UN Secretariat involves working on nearly 4,000 mandate documents, namely tasks or responsibilities assigned by Member States through the adoption of resolutions etc by the General Assembly, Security Council and other bodies on issues, such a peacekeeping operations; human rights; humanitarian aid; and sustainable development. Over time, around 40,000 such mandates have been adopted, and today there are amongst them those that are overlapping and/or outdate.
Workstream 3 to explore whether structural changes and programme realignment are needed across the UN system, with some of them possibly emerging from the mandate implementation review.
(b) Clusters
The Secretary-General also established seven thematic clusters, each under a senior UN leader from across the system, not just New York. The clusters are on: peace and security; development (Secretariat and UN system); specialized agencies; human rights; humanitarian activities; training and research. Their remit is to produce proposals to improve coordination, reduce fragmentation, and realign functions as required.
While UN80 is making changes in the face of the financial situation, according to Guy Ryder, Under Secretary-General, the process also aims to make the UN stronger. Nevertheless, the revised programme budget for 2026 has to include significant cuts in funding and in posts for Secretariat entities. Again, according to Guy Ryder that financial sustainability and mission impact are not mutually exclusive, and must be approached in tandem.
Reports from workstreams
In preparation for discussions by Member States, the Secretary-General has released two reports: Mandate Implementation Review, his report on workstream 2,[3] and Shifting Paradigms: United to Deliver, his report on workstream 3.[4]
[1] Global Policy Forum Briefing No 9. August 2025. Guy Ryder, UN Under Secretary-General.
[2] United Nations News. 2025. UN80 Initiative: What is it – and why it matters to the world. Accessed 16 October.
Available from: https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1164836
[3] United Nations. 2025. UN80 Initiative: workstream 2, Mandate Implementation Review. Report of the Secretary-General. Accessed 16 October 2025.
Available from: https://www.un.org/un80-initiative/sites/default/files/2025-09/2512998E_MIR_web.pdf
[4] United Nations. 2025. UN80 Initiative: workstream 3 Changing Structures and Realigning Programmes, Shifting Paradigms: United to Deliver. Report of the Secretary-General
Available from: https://www.un.org/un80-initiative/sites/default/files/2025-09/UN80_WS3-1_250921_1238.pdf
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