The UN chief launched a new initiative Wednesday to reform the United Nations as it approaches its 80th anniversary, saying the 193-member global organization needs an urgent update to deal with major funding reductions and still tackle the world’s challenges.
\nSecretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres dismissed any relationship between his UN80 Initiative and cuts to foreign aid and other programs that US President Donald Trump and ally Elon Musk say will make the US government more efficient, The Associated Press reported.
\n\u201cWe are talking about completely different processes, methodologies and objectives,\u201d Guterres told reporters. \u201cThis is a continuation and an intensification of work that we have always been doing.\u201d
\nHe said the UN initiative\u2019s objective will be to present member states with proposals for improving the way the organization works, reviewing the increasing number of mandates from the UN Security Council and General Assembly, and making structural changes to streamline operations.
\nGuterres and his predecessors in past decades have struggled to reform the United Nations, which was established following World War II, and bring it into a modern era with different powers, new technology and greater global divisions.
\nOne key problem is that while the secretary-general is the UN\u2019s chief executive, power rests with the 193 member nations that have very different ideas about the UN and the world.
\nThe United Nations also has faced sharp criticism for its failure to preserve international peace and security \u2014 its key mission \u2014 with critics pointing to the wars in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and Congo, to name a few. The UN has been key to providing humanitarian aid to millions of people and for its work helping refugees and children.
\nTrump signed an executive order saying some UN agencies and bodies have drifted from their mission to promote peace and prevent future global conflicts and ordered a review of their operations.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve always felt that the UN has tremendous potential,\u201d Trump has said. \u201cIt\u2019s not living up to that potential right now. … They\u2019ve got to get their act together.\u201d
\nStressing that the United Nations reflects the world, Guterres said these are times of intense uncertainty and unpredictability.
\nHe said the UN\u2019s work is affected by multiplying conflicts, inadequate progress in reducing poverty, widespread flouting of international law, violations of human rights and the lack of guardrails for new technologies, including artificial intelligence \u2014 to name a few.
\n\u201cAnd all of them are aggravated by major reductions of funding for humanitarian aid and development cooperation,\u201d the secretary-general said. \u201cIn many cases, these obstacles are fueling dangerous levels of geopolitical tensions and divisions.\u201d
\nGuterres didn\u2019t name any countries, but the Trump administration has dismantled the US Agency for International Development, which was in charge of humanitarian aid, and cut 83% of USAID’s programs. Other countries, including the United Kingdom, also are reducing humanitarian aid.
\nHe said the UN\u2019s resources have been shrinking, pointing to its liquidity crisis for at least the past seven years because not all member states pay their yearly dues, and many don\u2019t pay on time.
\nGuterres said the UN80 Initiative is not only about reforming the UN but about \u201cbetter serving people whose very lives depend on us\u201d and \u201ctaxpayers around the world who underwrite everything we do.\u201d
\nThe initiative will cover not only the UN Secretariat but all its funds and agencies and offices in Geneva, Nairobi and Vienna. It will be led by UN Undersecretary-General for Policy Guy Ryder, who will head a task force of top officials from the UN system, Guterres said.
\nThe UN budget for 2025, which was adopted last December, is $3.72 billion. The US, with the world’s biggest economy, is expected to pay 22%. China, with the second-largest economy, just had its share raised to 20%.
\nGuterres said he hopes to move as soon as possible to take action in areas where he has authority and will urge member states \u201cto consider the many decisions that rest with them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The UN chief launched a new initiative Wednesday to reform the United Nations as it approaches its 80th anniversary, saying the 193-member global organization needs an urgent update to deal with major funding reductions and still tackle the world’s challenges. Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres dismissed any relationship between his UN80 Initiative and cuts to foreign aid …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-news-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44579"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44581,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44579\/revisions\/44581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}