FIRST ON FOX: The United Nations’ UN80 Task Force is examining multiple suggested methods for reorganizing the institution, according to a leaked, confidential document shared with Fox News Digital. The six-page paper cites multiple inefficiencies and areas of improvement needed to combat “geopolitical shifts and substantial reductions in foreign aid budgets” which are “challenging the legitimacy and effectiveness of the organization.”
The effort is “eight and a half years late,” Hugh Dugan, former National Security Council Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Organization Affairs, told Fox News Digital: “If [Secretary-General António] Guterres really comprehends that the system needs a major overhaul, he should step down and facilitate an early U.N. Secretary-General election.” Dugan said that “the person with the fresh mandate” should overhaul the U.N.
In response to concerns shared by Dugan, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, said that the memo “is the result of an exercise to generate ideas and thoughts from senior officials on how to achieve the Secretary-General’s vision” and is one “of the three work streams that we are working on.”
Dujarric pointed to a speech Guterres delivered in March when introducing the UN80 Initiative, in which he called for an “ambitious reform agenda to strengthen how we work and deliver.” Guterres said this involves increasing transparency and accountability, being more effective and cutting costs, and decentralizing decisions to serve those who rely on the U.N.
The symbol of the United Nations outside the Secretariat Building at United Nations Headquarters. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File) (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
Dujarric also mentioned a speech Guterres gave eight years ago in September 2017, when he lamented the Byzantine bureaucracy that hampers progress at the U.N., and said that he was “pursuing sweeping management reform – to simplify procedures and decentralize decisions, with greater transparency, efficiency and accountability.”
For Dugan, Guterres’ failure to attempt those “sweeping” reforms prior to 2025 is an indication that regime change is needed. He reiterated that “the Secretary-General’s ‘Trust me’ window dressing is no longer convincing us to pay full retail.”
U.S. contributions to the U.N. may also take a hit. In April, a White House Office of Management and Budget passback to the State Department indicated the desire to end funding for international organizations, including the U.N.
Other countries are also falling short with contributions. In March, Guterres’ spokesperson Farhan Haq told Fox News Digital that member states’ non-payment of dues had forced the closure of one staff entrance to the U.N. headquarters in New York City at the time.
