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STORY: UN / GUTERRES UN80 INITIATIVE
TRT: 04:01
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 12 MARCH 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, United Nations Headquarters
12 MARCH 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Secretary-General António Guterres walks up to the podium
3. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The United Nations has never been more needed. Our values have never been more relevant. And the needs have never been greater. At the same time, we know the more the UN does together to address big challenges around the world, the less the burden on individual countries to do it alone.”
4. Wide shot, Guterres at the podium
5. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“But resources are shrinking across the board – and they have been for a long time. For example, for at least the past seven years, the United Nations has faced a liquidity crisis because not all Member States pay in full, and many also do not pay on time.”
6. Wide shot, Guterres at the podium
7. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“It is essential that an organizational system as complex and crucial as the United Nations – subjects itself to rigorous and regular scrutiny to assess its fitness for purpose in carrying out its goals efficiently. And this 80th anniversary year of the United Nations is a prime moment to expand all our efforts, recognizing the need for even greater urgency and ambition. That is why I have informed yesterday UN Member States that I am officially launching what we call the UN80 Initiative.”
8. Wide shot, Guterres at the podium
9. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The objective will be to present to Member States proposals in three areas: First, rapidly identifying efficiencies and improvements in the way we work. Second, thoroughly reviewing the implementation of all mandates given to us by Member States, which have significantly increased in recent years. Third, a strategic review of deeper, more structural changes and programme realignment in the UN System.”
10. Wide shot, Guterres at the podium
11. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“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. We must ensure value for money while advancing shared values. The need is great and the goal is clear: an even stronger and more effective United Nations that delivers for people and is tuned to the 21st century.”
12. Wide shot, Guterres at the podium
13. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We’ll welcome a ceasefire in Ukraine. Too many people have died. A ceasefire is indeed a positive thing, and we hope that it will materialize. And we hope that it will pave the way for peace, a just peace. And you know what are the parameters that we consider relevant for a just peace: the Charter, international law and the resolutions of the General Assembly.”
14. Wide shot, Guterres at the podium
15. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We live in a global economy. Everything is interlinked. And obviously, one of the great advantages of having a situation of free trade is to create the conditions for all countries to benefit. When we enter into a trade war, I believe all will lose.”
16. Wide shot, Guterres at the podium
17. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We can adapt the UN, consolidate the UN, make the UN more effective and more cost-effective. What we cannot do is solve the problems of the people that we no longer are able to assist, for lack of resources.”
18. Pan right, Guterres walks away
Secretary-General António Guterres announced the launch of the UN80 Initiative to rapidly identify efficiencies and improvements, review the implementation of all mandates given to the Organization by Member States, and conduct a strategic review of “deeper, more structural changes and programme realignment in the UN System.”
Speaking to reporters today (12 Mar) in New York, the Secretary-General said, “the United Nations has never been more needed,” but noted that “resources are shrinking across the board – and they have been for a long time.”
He said it was “essential that an organizational system as complex and crucial as the United Nations – subjects itself to rigorous and regular scrutiny to assess its fitness for purpose in carrying out its goals efficiently.”
The objectives, Guterres said, “will be to present to Member States proposals in three areas: First, rapidly identifying efficiencies and improvements in the way we work. Second, thoroughly reviewing the implementation of all mandates given to us by Member States, which have significantly increased in recent years. Third, a strategic review of deeper, more structural changes and programme realignment in the UN System.”
He stressed that “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,” and said, “we must ensure value for money while advancing shared values.”
Taking a journalist’s question on Ukraine, the Secretary-General said, “we’ll welcome a ceasefire in Ukraine. Too many people have died. A ceasefire is indeed a positive thing, and we hope that it will materialize. And we hope that it will pave the way for peace, a just peace. And you know what are the parameters that we consider relevant for a just peace: the Charter, international law and the resolutions of the General Assembly.”
On the tariffs being impose by the United States on other countries, he said, “we live in a global economy. Everything is interlinked. And obviously, one of the great advantages of having a situation of free trade is to create the conditions for all countries to benefit. When we enter into a trade war, I believe all will lose.”
On the cuts by the Unites States and other countries on humanitarian aid, Guterres said, “we can adapt the UN, consolidate the UN, make the UN more effective and more cost-effective. What we cannot do is solve the problems of the people that we no longer are able to assist, for lack of resources.”
A UN80 Initiative dedicated internal Task Force will be led by Under-Secretary-General Guy Ryder and composed of principals representing the entire UN system.
