U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday that he is launching a robust review of the world body to improve its efficiency and cut costs as it faces a worsening liquidity crisis.
“Resources are shrinking across the board — and they have been for a long time,” he told reporters.
He said the initiative — called UN80 and pegged to the organization’s 80th anniversary this year — seeks to expand and intensify reforms he has introduced since taking office in 2017, to make the world body more effective and cost-efficient.
The U.N. chief did not give details on how much money his proposals could save or how many jobs it might cost, but said he plans to move quickly in areas where he has the authority and will send proposals to the 193 member states to review on decisions that are up to them.
The effort will be led by a 14-person internal task force, which Guterres made clear will not be a U.N. version of DOGE — the Elon Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency that has slashed the jobs of thousands of federal workers in the United States.
“We are talking about completely different processes, methodologies and objectives,” he said. “This is a continuation and an intensification of a work that we have always been doing.”
Since taking office seven weeks ago, the Trump administration has substantially reduced its voluntary contributions to U.N. funds, agencies and programs through its near-elimination of foreign aid programs and the initiation of the year-long withdrawal process from the World Health Organization, raising financial anxieties at the United Nations. Washington is the world body’s top donor.
But Guterres noted that since he took office seven years ago, the U.N. has faced a growing cash crisis for many reasons, including because many countries do not pay their mandatory dues in full or on time.
The secretary-general said his main concern is for the vulnerable people who will be cut off from help as a result of the cost cuts.
“Budgets at the United Nations are not just numbers on a balance sheet — they are a matter of life and death for millions around the world,” he said.
The U.N. secretariat is a big bureaucracy, having around 9,000 staffers. Funds, agencies and programs have thousands more. The organization’s regular budget for 2024-2025 was about $6 billion, but billions more are poured into the agencies, funds and programs.
Guterres acknowledged that “thousands” of U.N. agency staffers have already been laid off as a result of shrinking contributions not just from Washington, but also by other countries.
The new task force will be looking to cut redundant programs and people. One way, Guterres said, he will save money is by moving services from high-cost countries where the U.N. has large offices — New York, Geneva, Vienna — to less expensive locations, including its hub in Kenya’s capital.
“We have been investing in Nairobi, creating the conditions for Nairobi to receive services that are now in more expensive locations,” he said. “And UNICEF will be transferring soon some of the functions to Nairobi, and UNFPA will be essentially moving to Nairobi.”
UNICEF is the U.N. children’s fund and UNFPA is the U.N. Population Fund, which deals with women’s health and reproductive issues.
