U.N. policy chief Guy Ryder says the global organization expects to mark its 80th birthday by shrinking almost a third this year, back to the size it was a decade ago in terms of the $50 billion in support and services it can deliver.
An approximately 30% reduction is expected this year mainly due to U.S. global aid cuts, down to about $50 billion across the U.N. system from $66 billion last year, Guy Ryder, the U.N. undersecretary-general for policy, told the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
As part of last year's spending, the largest portion, about 45% or $31 billion, went for humanitarian aid, while 30% or $21 billion went for development. Another 13% or $9 billion went for peace and security, while 1% or less than $1 billion went for human rights. The remaining 12% or $8 billion went for other various areas of global and specialized work.
Ryder, who oversees the "UN80 initiative," told the U.N. General Assembly the 193-nation organization will follow three work streams for reducing staff, consolidating mandates, and changing its structures and programs. The streamlining effort was launched by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres in response to the severe crisis of support for its funding and multilateral objectives.
"The UN80 initiative is often characterized – I think mischaracterized – simply as an exercise in downsizing in economy," Ryder told the assembly. "But the secretary-general has been rather clear in saying that whilst we have to respond to the resource situation which I've already outlined, the overall intention of the initiative is to strengthen and improve the workings of the U.N. system."
The U.N. system generated 40,000 resolutions, decisions and presidential statements since 1946, according to Ryder, and those mandates must be implemented by "a fairly numerous and complex constellation" of more than 140 entities operating "in a fragmented governance system."
"The underlying question in all of this is how do we resource this work," said Ryder, former head of the International Labor Organization in Geneva. "We are working in a situation of significant uncertainty."
The anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter on June 26, 1945, makes it an appropriate time to ensure the global organization remains "fit for purpose" so it can respond to future challenges, Philémon Yang, president of U.N. General Assembly and former prime minister of Cameroon, told diplomats at the start of Ryder's briefing.
