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UN80: Seizing the opportunity for a more inclusive United Nations

If decision-makers can keep a long-term perspective on impacts, reforms can strengthen the U.N. despite budget cuts.

The Sphere Within Sphere bronze sculpture outside U.N. headquarters in New York symbolizes the emergence of a new world from the old.
The Sphere Within Sphere bronze sculpture outside U.N. headquarters in New York symbolizes the emergence of a new world from the old. (AN/J. Heilprin)

This analysis, first published by IPI Global Observatory, has been edited for style. Views expressed by author Katja Hemmerich, the managing director of ReformWorks, do not necessarily represent IPI GO, IPI, or Arete News.

At the first informal briefing on UN80 by the U.N. secretary-general on May 12, a significant number of member nations, predominantly from the Global South, highlighted that this round of U.N. reform should aim to make the organization more inclusive. At first glance, this desired outcome seems out of sync with the political context. After all, UN80 has been driven primarily by a significant shift in U.S. policies on foreign aid, which has come at the same time as a U.S. rejection of diversity and inclusion policies, including at the U.N.

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