UN80

In March of this year, UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched the UN80 Initiative, a system-wide reform effort. UN80 proposals center around reshaping how the United Nations works, including goals which are intended to make the body more efficient and cost-effective. There are more ambitious proposals, including plans to move major UN agencies including UNICEF, UNFPA, and UN Women from western cities such as New York to Nairobi, Kenya.  But some are calling for an even more transformative agenda of reform, which could shift long-standing power imbalances in the UN from the West and towards other regions. “The agenda set by the UN is focused on its own organisational weaknesses and does not address the largely political questions that scuttle the UN’s work,” writes Vijay Prashad.