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UN PhotoUN / UN80 INITIATIVE GUY RYDER INTERVIEW
STORY: UN / UN80 GUY RYDER INTERVIEW
TRT: 05:59
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 16 JUNE 2025, NEW YORK CITY
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN Headquarters
16 JUNE 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
2. Med shot, interviewer Laura Quiñones
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Guy Ryder, Under-secretary-general for Policy and chair of the UN80 Task Force:
“An eighty-year anniversary is a good time to take a look at yourself and see how fit for purpose we are, in a set of circumstances which, let's be honest, are quite challenging for multilateralism and for the UN.”
4. Med shot, Quiñones
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Guy Ryder, Under-secretary-general for Policy and chair of the UN80 Task Force:
“The objective is to make the UN better, to make it stronger, to enable us to respond effectively to the multiple challenges that are out there. So, you know, sometimes it's bad to define something by what it is not. But this is not simply a cost cutting, downsizing effort. Yes, we do face financial challenges. No need to avert our eyes from that. But we want to come out of this stronger. We want to see what we can do better.”
6. Med shot, Quiñones
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Guy Ryder, Under-secretary-general for Policy and chair of the UN80 Task Force:
“We're looking at efficiencies and improvements within our existing institution arrangements. So, we are looking at ways that we can, as I've said, remove duplications; relocations of staff and functions is part of the story. We can make gains from moving from higher costs to lower cost locations. We can look at our business processes. Many of us who work in the system find the bureaucracies a little bit heavy, sometimes, a little bit frustrating. Why not look at those obstacles and try and move them away?”
8. Med shot, Quiñones
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Guy Ryder, Under-secretary-general for Policy and chair of the UN80 Task Force:
“But then too, we're looking at the substance of what we do, the mandates that we implement. So, it's the what as well as the how. And eventually, you know, we might want to look at the architecture of the United Nations system, at the different structures we have in place, which have grown over eight decades and have become quite complicated. Not a bad idea to have a look at those as well.”
10. Med shot, Quiñones
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Guy Ryder, Under-secretary-general for Policy and chair of the UN80 Task Force:
“These mandates belong to Member States. They've decided on them. Only they can evaluate them. So, we can look at the evidence. We can try and put that to Member States, but eventually Member States are the decision makers on mandates and on very much, else that the UN80 initiative brings. So, the Secretary-General has a margin of decision making, he can do a certain number of things on his own authority, but for the most part, Member States will decide where this thing goes, and that's how it should be in a democratic, Member States driven organization such as the United Nations.”
12. Med shot, Quiñones
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Guy Ryder, Under-secretary-general for Policy and chair of the UN80 Task Force:
“The success of UN 80 will be judged by the impact that the United Nations is able to have for all end beneficiaries, the people who need the support to the UN. And that could be in the field of peace and security, it could be on the humanitarian front - and you've mentioned some of the very, very brutal cuts that we've had to face there - or it could be in the area of sustainable development, the three pillars of the UN. And here's the point; the point is UN80 is designed to improve the impact and effect of multilateralism and the UN.”
14. Med shot, Quiñones
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Guy Ryder, Under-secretary-general for Policy and chair of the UN80 Task Force:
“We have to look at our budget. You know that the Secretary-General has stated his intention to have a revised budget for 2026, which will involve substantial cuts in both budget and in posts. That’s the reality that we are in. But it’s not one thing or another. It's not just downsizing and job reductions or effectiveness. We have to reconcile the two objectives of making ourselves financially sustainable in the difficult circumstances we find ourselves in, but also be attentive, as always, to the impact that we have in delivering on our responsibilities under the charter.”
16. Med shot, Quiñones
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Guy Ryder, Under-secretary-general for Policy and chair of the UN80 Task Force:
“So firstly, in the revised budget that we will be put to Member States in September. So, the 26 budget will incorporate them – the process will go into 27 as well - and when Member States get the evidence of our mandate review, implementation review, they're going to have to decide what they want to do with it. Do they wish to set up an intergovernmental process - the Secretary general has mentioned this as a possibility already. We'll have to see.”
18. Med shot, Quiñones
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Guy Ryder, Under-secretary-general for Policy and chair of the UN80 Task Force:
“So, it is really something of a reset, both substantively, and in terms of the methods of work. And I want to say we've got some real assets as we move into this work. It was no small thing that the UN system was able to adopt in the General Assembly last September, a Pact for the Future. It gives us a great blueprint of the things that we need to be focusing on, the types of substance that can make us a forward-looking system.”
20. Med shot, Quiñones
SOUNDBITE (English) Guy Ryder, Under-secretary-general for Policy and chair of the UN80 Task Force:
“We had a look at this massive number of mandates back in 2006. Didn't quite give the results that we wanted. I think we got some advantages this time. We've got the data analytical capacities. We're applying, artificial intelligence techniques. I think, to provide much more and better organized information to Member States, a more compelling case that could drive, I think, a productive process there.”
21. Med shot, Quiñones
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Guy Ryder, Under-secretary-general for Policy and chair of the UN80 Task Force:
“I think success will be precisely a UN system which is able to deliver more effectively, which is able to gather strength and consolidate - use a word that you wish - trust in and support for multilateral action. A UN system which is sustainable, a UN system, which is able to convey to public opinion and to political decision makers that yes, this is an organization, this is a system, these are methods that are worth investing in.”
23. Med shot, Quiñones
The Chair of the UN80 Task Force, Guy Ryder, said the objective of the initiative is “to make the UN better, to make it stronger,” and to enable the Organization “to respond effectively to the multiple challenges that are out there.”
As the United Nations marks its 80th anniversary this year amid overlapping global challenges – ranging from conflict, displacement, and inequality to climate shocks and rapid technological change – Ryder told UN NEWS’ Laura Quiñones that, “an eighty-year anniversary is a good time to take a look at yourself and see how fit for purpose we are, in a set of circumstances which, let's be honest, are quite challenging for multilateralism and for the UN.”
He said, “sometimes it's bad to define something by what it is not. But this is not simply a cost cutting, downsizing effort. Yes, we do face financial challenges. No need to avert our eyes from that. But we want to come out of this stronger. We want to see what we can do better.”
At the heart of UN80 are three major workstreams. The first is focused on improving internal efficiency, reducing fragmentation, cutting red tape, and optimizing the UN’s global footprint.
Ryder said, “we're looking at efficiencies and improvements within our existing institution arrangements. So, we are looking at ways that we can, as I've said, remove duplications; relocations of staff and functions is part of the story. We can make gains from moving from higher costs to lower cost locations. We can look at our business processes. Many of us who work in the system find the bureaucracies a little bit heavy, sometimes, a little bit frustrating. Why not look at those obstacles and try and move them away?”
The second workstream is a mandate implementation review, which involves examining nearly 4,000 mandates underpinning the UN’s work for 2025 alone. The third stream explores whether even deeper structural changes and programme realignment are needed across the UN System.
The UN80 Chair said, “we're looking at the substance of what we do, the mandates that we implement. So, it's the what as well as the how. And eventually, you know, we might want to look at the architecture of the United Nations system, at the different structures we have in place, which have grown over eight decades and have become quite complicated. Not a bad idea to have a look at those as well.”
The mandates, he stressed, “belong to Member States. They've decided on them. Only they can evaluate them,” adding that the Secretary-General “has a margin of decision making, he can do a certain number of things on his own authority, but for the most part, Member States will decide where this thing goes, and that's how it should be in a democratic, Member States driven organization such as the United Nations.”
Ryder said, “the success of UN 80 will be judged by the impact that the United Nations is able to have for all end beneficiaries, the people who need the support to the UN. And that could be in the field of peace and security, it could be on the humanitarian front - and you've mentioned some of the very, very brutal cuts that we've had to face there - or it could be in the area of sustainable development, the three pillars of the UN. And here's the point; the point is UN80 is designed to improve the impact and effect of multilateralism and the UN.”
A revised programme budget for 2026, due in September, is expected to include significant reductions in funding and posts for Secretariat entities — a consequence of persistent cash flow constraints linked to delayed contributions from Member States.
The Chair said, “we have to look at our budget. You know that the Secretary-General has stated his intention to have a revised budget for 2026, which will involve substantial cuts in both budget and in posts. That’s the reality that we are in. But it’s not one thing or another. It's not just downsizing and job reductions or effectiveness. We have to reconcile the two objectives of making ourselves financially sustainable in the difficult circumstances we find ourselves in, but also be attentive, as always, to the impact that we have in delivering on our responsibilities under the charter.”
Firstly, he continued, “in the revised budget that we will be put to Member States in September. So, the 26 budget will incorporate them – the process will go into 27 as well - and when Member States get the evidence of our mandate review, implementation review, they're going to have to decide what they want to do with it. Do they wish to set up an intergovernmental process - the Secretary general has mentioned this as a possibility already. We'll have to see.”
The Pact for the Future, adopted in the General Assembly last September, Ryder said, “gives us a great blueprint of the things that we need to be focusing on, the types of substance that can make us a forward-looking system.”
He recalled that the UN “had a look at this massive number of mandates back in 2006,” but “didn't quite give the results that we wanted,” but said, this time, “we've got the data analytical capacities. We're applying, artificial intelligence techniques. I think, to provide much more and better organized information to Member States, a more compelling case that could drive, I think, a productive process there.”
Success, Ryder said, “will be precisely a UN system which is able to deliver more effectively, which is able to gather strength and consolidate - use a word that you wish - trust in and support for multilateral action. A UN system which is sustainable, a UN system, which is able to convey to public opinion and to political decision makers that yes, this is an organization, this is a system, these are methods that are worth investing in.”
Secretary-General António Guterres launched UN80 as a system-wide multi-phased push to transform the United Nations and strengthen how it delivers for people around the world. It seeks to restore confidence in the UN’s capacity to respond to today’s while also responding to external pressures such as shrinking budgets and growing scepticism about the effectiveness of multilateral institutions.
To tackle reform across such a vast institution, the Secretary-General established seven thematic clusters led by senior UN leaders from across the system. These cover peace and security, humanitarian action, development (Secretariat and UN system), human rights, training and research, and specialized agencies.
Each cluster is expected to produce proposals to improve coordination, reduce fragmentation, and realign functions where needed. Several clusters have already submitted initial ideas. A broader set of proposals will follow in July.
Initial reform proposals are expected to be reflected in the revised 2026 UN budget to be presented to the Member States in September. A report on the mandate implementation review and a public mandate registry will follow in the next few months, and system-wide proposals for structural changes are expected later.
