UN80: The Secretary-General’s Revised Budget Will Do More Harm Than Good - IPI Global Observatory
Eugene Chen argues that the UN80 revised budget will do more harm than good, risking deeper crisis.| IPI Global Observatory
When President Donald Trump asked the UN General Assembly in September, “What is the purpose of the United Nations?” he wasn’t posing a philosophical question. He was announcing a policy shift. Weeks later, Ambassador Jeff Bartos addressed the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee, praising Secretary-General António Guterres’s proposed budget cuts as “only a beginning.” The Trump […] The post From Reform to Retreat: How the US Is Rewriting Multilateralism appeared first on IPI G...| IPI Global Observatory
In the twenty-first century, peace is increasingly commodified. Mediation—once the preserve of diplomats and statesmen—has become an arena for entrepreneurs in search of both influence and profit.A ceasefire has finally come into effect in Gaza after the Israeli government approved a US-brokered deal with Hamas, after Israel and Hamas signed off on the first phase […] The post Dealmakers as Peacemakers? The Promises and Perils of a Business-Based Approach to Peace Mediation appeared fir...| IPI Global Observatory
As the United Nations General Assembly enters its 80th session, the secretary-general has issued wide-ranging proposals under his latest report under the UN80 initiative, “Shifting Paradigms: United to Deliver,” aimed at streamlining, rationalizing, and reforming the UN system. While the proposals in the peace and security pillar are central to improving the UN, reforming the United […] The post The UN80 Development Proposals: Incremental Efficiency Gains or Opportunity for Transformat...| IPI Global Observatory
The UN80 initiative was launched in March 2025 by the secretary-general with the objective of creating a more “agile, integrated, and equipped” organization able to respond to today’s challenges amid tightening resources. Over the last several weeks, the secretary-general has released reports under each of the three workstreams: efficiency and effectiveness, mandate implementation, and structural […] The post The UN80 Proposals on Peace and Security: Not the Overhaul We Need appeared ...| IPI Global Observatory
The UN secretary-general is now more or less finished with his part of the UN80 reform process. In the six months since he launched the initiative, António Guterres has produced three sets of proposals to (1) identify immediate administrative efficiencies, (2) review mandate implementation, and (3) reform the organization’s architecture. With the final proposals now […] The post How a Special Envoy for Future Generations Could Help Rescue UN80 from Itself appeared first on IPI Global Obs...| IPI Global Observatory
When deciding how to tackle a specific challenge, the UN has multiple policy options: an “agenda,” a “roadmap,” a “code of conduct,” or perhaps a “compact.” It is this last option that UN officials working on the UN80 initiative have proposed to address the current crisis facing the UN humanitarian system, prompted by unprecedented funding […] The post One Compact Too Far: UN80 and the Humanitarian Reform Malaise appeared first on IPI Global Observatory.| IPI Global Observatory
Eugene Chen argues that the UN80 revised budget will do more harm than good, risking deeper crisis.| IPI Global Observatory
Today’s global challenges—including climate shocks, geopolitical conflicts, mass displacement, and the rapid spread of disruptive technologies—are more interconnected than at any point in the UN’s history. Addressing them demands a United Nations that works as a single, coherent system. The secretary-general’s new report on UN reform, “Shifting Paradigms: United to Deliver,” is the latest, most […] The post The UN’s Coherence Paradox: Why the UN80 Reforms Are Not Enough appe...| IPI Global Observatory
The United Nations peacebuilding architecture—consisting of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), the secretary-general’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), and the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO)—is undergoing its fourth review since its creation in 2005. The purpose of the Peacebuilding Architecture Review (PBAR) is to strengthen the UN’s capacity to prevent conflict and build sustainable peace. Unlike previous processes, this […] The post Whose Peace Is It, Anyway? Defining Ownership in...| IPI Global Observatory
In August 2025, the United Nations adopted a resolution forming the International Scientific Panel on AI (ISP-AI). This was the culmination of several years of work, beginning with the creation of the secretary-general’s AI Advisory Body in 2023. Two of the AI Advisory Body’s final recommendations—the ISP-AI and the creation of the Global Dialogues on […]| IPI Global Observatory
The current state of “no war no peace” in northern Ethiopia seems to be preserved only by the rainy season’s predictable afternoon showers and relatively chill air. Tigrayans are making anxious preparations—“stocking up on emergency supplies and withdrawing their savings from the bank”—before the rainy season winds down.The Pretoria Agreement, signed in November 2022, silenced […]| IPI Global Observatory
Yearly Archives: 2025| IPI Global Observatory
The 80th anniversary of the United Nations should have been a celebration. Instead, it has become a reckoning.At the heart of that reckoning is the Mandate Implementation Review (MIR), a quietly released but deeply consequential report that diagnoses a long-festering problem inside the UN system: mandate overload. Since 1946, more than 40,000 resolutions have been […]| IPI Global Observatory
