Designing a new UN business model

Designing a new UN business model | Daily Tribune

Next month marks the 80th anniversary of the United Nations Charter.

The Charter is our roadmap to a better world — our owner’s manual setting out purposes and principles — and our practical guide to advancing the three pillars of our work: peace and security, development and human rights.

Anniversaries are a time to look back and celebrate — but they are even more a time to cast our eyes to the future.

It is only natural — especially in a period of turbulence and tumult — to look ahead and ask central questions: How can we be the most effective Organization that we can be?

How can we be more nimble, coordinated and fit to face the challenges of today, the next decade, and indeed the next 80 years?

The UN80 Initiative is anchored in answering these questions — and equipping our organization in an era of extraordinary uncertainty.

Yes, these are times of peril. But they are also times of profound opportunity and obligation. The mission of the United Nations is more urgent than ever.

And it is up to us to intensify our efforts to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals and be laser-focused on implementing the Pact for the Future with its many pathways to strengthen multilateralism.

From day one of my mandate, we embarked on an ambitious reform agenda to strengthen how we work and deliver. The reimagined development system is one example. Our shared goal has always been to make our Organization more efficient, to simplify procedures, eliminate overlaps, and enhance transparency and accountability.

The liquidity crisis we now face is not new. But today’s financial and political situation adds even greater urgency to our efforts. We face real threats to the very fabric, values, principles, and sustainability of multilateralism.

But I also sense from many of you a robust determination and political will to ensure the strongest possible United Nations for the 21st century.

We must rise to this moment.

As indicated in my letter of 11 March, the UN80 Initiative is structured around three key workstreams:

First, we are striving to rapidly identify efficiencies and improvements under current arrangements.

Second, we are reviewing the implementation of all mandates given to us by Member States.

And third, we are undertaking consideration of the need for structural changes and program realignment across the UN system.

Under the first workstream on efficiencies and improvements, Under-Secretary-General Catherine Pollard is leading a Working Group for the Secretariat that is developing a management strategy to design a new business model for the Organization.

The Working Group is focused on developing cost-reduction and efficiency-enhancement proposals in management and operations across the UN Secretariat. It is reviewing administrative functions to identify redundancies, streamline processes, and design integrated solutions — with cost-benefit analyses and clear implementation roadmaps.

Priority areas include: Functional and structural consolidation; Workforce streamlining; Relocating services from high-cost duty stations; Centralizing IT and support services, and Expanding automation and digital platforms.

While the Working Group’s immediate focus is on management and operational areas, the rest of the Secretariat will be expected to contribute towards the efficiency agenda.

With respect to the broader UN system, in April, the High-Level Committee on Management identified potential system-wide efficiency measures in areas such as human resources management, supply chain management and information and communications technologies. Concrete proposals are now being developed, including identifying services that system organizations can provide quicker, at a lower price or through more competitive contracts.

This brings me to the second workstream: mandate implementation review. As stated in my 11 March letter, this workstream is about how the UN system implements mandates entrusted by Member States. We will not review the mandates themselves. Those are yours to decide on. Our job is to examine and report on how we carry them out, and our goal is to simplify and optimize how we do so.

Nearly twenty years ago, in 2006, an analysis of mandates and the “mandate-generation cycle” was carried out by the Secretariat. A number of problems were identified, including burdensome reporting requirements, overlap between and within organs, an unwieldy and duplicative architecture for implementation, and gaps between mandates and resources.

But let’s be frank. Most of these problems are not only still with us — they have intensified. We must do better.

Our review will be conducted holistically — looking at the entire universe of mandates, and at the entirety of their implementation. This review, therefore, cannot be limited to the UN Secretariat, but it will start there.

The review has so far identified over 3,600 unique mandates for the Secretariat alone. It is now deepening its examination, clustering these mandates using various analytical lenses. After this analytical work, relevant entities and departments will be invited to identify opportunities for improvements and consolidation of efforts. This should result in the identification of duplications, redundancies, or opportunities for greater synergy on implementation.

The measure of success is not the volume of reports we generate or the number of meetings we convene. The measure of success — the value, purpose and aim of our work — is in the real-world difference we make in the lives of people.

This brings me to the third workstream: structural changes. Proposals on structural change and program realignment are likely to emerge from the mandate implementation review.

To advance our three workstreams, I have established seven UN80 clusters — under the coordination of the UN80 Task Force and in close cooperation with the Secretariat Working Group. Each of the seven clusters bring together the organizations that contribute to a similar specific global objectives and similar areas of work. They will advance efforts in the three UN80 workstreams — identifying efficiencies and improvements, mandate implementation review, and possible structural changes.

The UN80 Initiative is a significant opportunity to strengthen the UN system and deliver for those who depend on us. It is central for implementing the Pact for the Future. It is crucial for advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.

The needs of the people we serve must remain our guiding star. We must always stick to principles. We must never compromise core values. We must forever uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

We will advance all this work so that our three pillars — peace and security, development and human rights — are mutually reinforced, and the geographical balance of our workforce and our gender and disability strategies will be preserved. And we will be ever mindful of the interests of all Member States — developing countries, in particular.

Your active engagement and support for the UN80 Initiative is vital to ensure that efforts are inclusive, innovative, and representative of the needs of all Member States.

(Excerpts of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ remarks on the UN80 Initiative on 12 May 2025.)