The United Nations outlined how it intends to advance one of its most comprehensive system-wide reform efforts in decades, as Under-Secretary-General for Policy Guy Ryder presented the UN80 Initiative Action Plan.
The plan brings the Secretary-General’s major UN80 reform proposals into a single, coherent structure to streamline efforts that will make the UN system deliver better.
The plan does not introduce new proposals but sets out how the UN system intends to advance the ones already on the table: 87 actions, grouped into 31 work packages across 3 workstreams, stretching from peace operations and humanitarian response to technology, shared services and institutional mergers.
“Its purpose is to bring structure, transparency and coherence and an operational framework to move ahead with all aspects of the UN80 Initiative - and also to enable you to see how each element will move forward: who is responsible for what, and on what timeline,” Mr. Ryder told Member States during an Informal Meeting of the General Assembly.
A plan for how the UN changes
The Action Plan sits at the heart of the UN80 Initiative, a bold, system-wide transformation to make the UN system work better - so that every dollar, decision and mandate delivers greater results for people and the planet.
Launched in March and welcomed by the General Assembly in resolution 79/318, the focus is on how it is structured, managed, and coordinated: modernising outdated arrangements, reducing bureaucracy, fragmentation and duplication, and strengthening impact.
The UN80 Initiative advances through three workstreams – all united in the Action Plan:
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proposals to improve efficiency across the UN system, with initial proposals reflected in the revised estimates for the 2026 Secretariat proposed programme budget;
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the Report of the Mandate Implementation Review, now under consideration by the Member State–led Informal Ad Hoc Working Group; and
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“Shifting Paradigms: United to Deliver,” the Secretary-General’s report outlining potential structural and programmatic realignments.
The UN80 Initiative Action Plan brings these three workstreams under one roof, translating their recommendations into a clear structure that identifies responsibilities, timelines and the intergovernmental bodies that will consider the proposals.
“If we maintain the momentum and approach this initiative in the right spirit, the months ahead can be a moment of real transformation,” Mr. Ryder told Member States.
More about the UN80 Initiative:
