Former Trump official calls UN reform effort as years too late
The United Nations’ UN80 Task Force is currently working on a comprehensive plan to reorganize the institution in response to a leaked confidential document obtained by Fox News Digital. The six-page document highlights various inefficiencies within the organization and emphasizes the need for significant improvements to address geopolitical shifts and reductions in foreign aid budgets that are undermining the U.N.’s effectiveness and legitimacy.
According to Hugh Dugan, former National Security Council Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Organization Affairs, the UN80 Task Force’s efforts are long overdue. Dugan suggested that Secretary-General António Guterres should step down to facilitate an early U.N. Secretary-General election to bring in a fresh mandate for overhauling the U.N.
The leaked document points out issues such as overlapping mandates, inefficient resource utilization, and inconsistent service delivery due to the proliferation of U.N. agencies, funds, and programs. It proposes integrating, consolidating, and coordinating reformed entities to maximize benefits for U.N. stakeholders. Additionally, the task force recommends reducing high-level posts, establishing single entities for coordinating Peace and Security, Humanitarian Affairs, and Human Rights, and streamlining the U.N. development system entities to cut costs.
However, Dugan criticized the document, describing it as a “whiteboard stream of consciousness approach” lacking human resource improvements, performance metrics, and confidence-building measures to increase member buy-in and enthusiasm for U.N. programs. He emphasized the need for the U.N. to identify the multilateral collateral by retaining what is effective and eliminating damaged elements after eight years of declining relevance.
In response to concerns raised by Dugan, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for Secretary-General António Guterres, defended the memo as part of an exercise to generate ideas aligning with the Secretary-General’s vision for U.N. reform. Guterres has previously called for an ambitious reform agenda focusing on transparency, accountability, efficiency, and decentralization to better serve U.N. stakeholders.
Despite these efforts, Dugan believes that Guterres’ failure to implement sweeping reforms before 2025 signals the need for regime change. He expressed skepticism towards the Secretary-General’s reassurances and warned of potential U.S. funding cuts to the U.N. as indicated by a recent White House Office of Management and Budget passback.
Overall, the U.N. faces significant challenges in the wake of budget cuts and member states’ non-payment of dues, prompting calls for urgent reforms to restore its relevance and effectiveness on the global stage.
