UN chief unveils progress report on structural reforms, program realignments

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres unveiled a reform progress report proposing a humanitarian compact, data commons, and technology accelerator, aimed at strengthening UN delivery across peace, development, and human rights pillars.

United Nations: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres unveiled a progress report on structural reforms and program realignments under the third workstream of the UN80 Initiative.

In the report shared with UN member states, the UN chief outlined proposals for paradigm-shifting changes in the organization’s structure, in the way its entities collaborate, and in how it operates, Xinhua news agency reported.

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The report, “Shifting Paradigms: United to Deliver,” sets out proposals to strengthen the United Nations’ delivery across all three pillars of its work — peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights — while also advancing more effective collaboration across these pillars, according to a press release from the Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General.

It launches a new humanitarian compact to cut bureaucracy and integrate billions of dollars in global supply chains, establishes a system-wide human rights group to coordinate rights work systematically across all UN activities, and proposes the creation of a UN System Data Commons and a Technology Accelerator Platform to drive modernization, the release said.

The report complements earlier reports on efficiency and on the mandate implementation review. Issued ahead of the UN General Assembly’s High-Level Week, which begins next week, it is intended to inform member state deliberations on ways to strengthen the UN system, the release added.

“This is a work in progress. We look forward to working with Member States — as owners of the process — to realize our common ambition: a UN system that is more coherent, more effective, and better equipped to serve ‘We the Peoples’,” Guterres said.