UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a high-level meeting to mark 80th anniversary
The United Nations plans to abolish senior posts and merge departments in a bid to reduce costs, eliminate duplication, and improve efficiency, according to a new report by Secretary-General António Guterres.
At least five Under-Secretary-General positions will be scrapped, while other roles will be merged or phased out. The proposals are contained in Guterres’s latest reform update ahead of this week’s UN General Assembly in New York.
The report — Shifting Paradigms: United to Deliver — outlines restructuring across the UN’s four pillars: peace and security, sustainable development, humanitarian operations, and human rights.
The proposals are likely to resonate with African leaders, including Kenya’s President William Ruto, who has called for a United Nations “fit for purpose” as they head to New York.
Peace operations
In peace operations, the UN wants to set a “new agenda” focusing on prevention, peacebuilding and political solutions. It plans to create a Peacebuilding and Peace Support Office, consolidating functions currently split between the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and the Department of Peace Operations. The new office will handle peacebuilding, disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, security sector reform, and justice and corrections.
“This unified structure would provide more coherent support to member States from prevention through transition, ensuring that security gains are reinforced by institution building and development,” the report says.
One Assistant Secretary-General post will be abolished under the restructuring. Disarmament and counterterrorism functions will also be consolidated into a single peace and security pillar linked with development, human rights, and humanitarian work.
Guterres further proposes merging the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) with the Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA), while safeguarding expert independence.
Peace operations
In peace operations, the UN wants to set a “new agenda” focusing on prevention, peacebuilding, and political solutions. It plans to create a Peacebuilding and Peace Support Office, consolidating functions currently split between the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and the Department of Peace Operations. The new office will handle peacebuilding, disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, security sector reform, and justice and corrections.
“This unified structure would provide more coherent support to member States from prevention through transition, ensuring that security gains are reinforced by institution building and development,” the report says.
One Assistant Secretary-General post will be abolished under the restructuring. Disarmament and counterterrorism functions will also be consolidated into a single peace and security pillar linked with development, human rights, and humanitarian work.
Guterres further proposes merging the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) with the Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA), while safeguarding expert independence.
The reforms build on earlier cost-saving measures, such as relocating key agency functions from New York to Nairobi. An internal review found these moves — covering UNFPA, the children’s fund UNICEF, UN Women, and UNOPS — could save up to $92 million annually through 2029.
Guterres said the UN’s 80th anniversary provides an opportunity to strengthen the institution “in a world scarred by brutal and widespread conflicts, deep inequalities and injustice, flagrant violations of human rights and looming existential threats”.
“Our 80th anniversary is therefore a moment of opportunity: a chance to ensure that the forces of renewal and progress prevail over inertia,” he told member States on Monday. “By acting with unity and purpose now, we can equip the organisation to meet the challenges of the future.”
The proposals are part of the UN80 Initiative, but member States will have the final say when debate begins at the General Assembly.