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STORY: UN / GUTERRES UN80 INITIATIVE
TRT: 03:06
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 01 AUG 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, United Nations headquarters
01 AUG 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Trusteeship Committee Chamber
3. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“First, let me be absolutely clear: mandates are the business of Member States. They are the expression of your will. And they are the sole property and responsibility of Member States. The vital task of creating, reviewing or retiring them lies with you – and you alone. Our role is to implement them – fully, faithfully, and efficiently.”
4. Wide shot, Trusteeship Committee Chamber
5. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Second, we recognize that mandates are critical to everything we do. They define our work. They shape our structures. They are the basis for how we are held accountable. And yet, for many years, there has been broad recognition – including most especially by the General Assembly – that the way we manage mandates needs to change.”
6. Wide shot, Trusteeship Committee Chamber
7. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The problems are well known: Burdensome processes. Overlap. Duplicative structures. And a growing gap between mandates and resources. These issues have been identified many times – including through the 2006 mandate review process. But they were not resolved. In fact, as we all know, these problems have grown worse. We must learn from what went wrong. We must do better. And I believe we can.”
8. Wide shot, Trusteeship Committee Chamber
9. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The mandate landscape is vast – and often opaque. There is no easy way to know what already exists, or what has been adopted across different bodies. Today, there are more than 40,000 resolutions and decisions on the books – and counting. The risks of duplication and overlap are clear.”
10. Wide shot, Trusteeship Committee Chamber
11. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We are proposing a series of suggestions to put us on a better course: Fewer meetings. Fewer reports, but ones that are able to fully meet the requirements of all mandates. And better designed reporting, with tailored formats and monitoring of trends.”
12. Wide shot, Trusteeship Committee Chamber
13. SOUNDBITE (French) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“It is up to you to decide on the way forward. My responsibility is to ensure that the Secretariat provides the means and elements necessary to implement the path you choose.”
14. Wide shot, Trusteeship Committee Chamber
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres briefed Member States during an informal meeting of the General Assembly on the next phase of the UN80 Initiative, highlighting steps needed to streamline how the organization implements the thousands of mandates that guide its work.
“As we all know, these problems have grown worse. We must learn from what went wrong. We must do better. And I believe we can,” Guterres said today (Aug 01), referring to inefficiencies in the mandate system.
The briefing followed the circulation of a report on 31 July 2025, presenting findings from Workstream 2 of the UN80 Initiative, a Mandate Implementation Review, which examines the structures, processes, and services related to mandate creation, delivery, and review. The report does not assess the content or merit of any mandates themselves.
Launched in March 2025, the UN80 Initiative aims to enhance the United Nations’ efficiency, effectiveness, and responsiveness to global challenges in the lead-up to the Organization’s 80th anniversary. The initiative focuses on three reform tracks: internal efficiency, mandate implementation review, and structural and programmatic reforms.
Since 1946, the UN’s three main organs, the General Assembly, Security Council, and Economic and Social Council, along with their subsidiary bodies, have issued mandates through over 40,000 resolutions, decisions, and presidential statements. These mandates define the UN’s activities and hold the Secretariat accountable, yet their sheer volume and complexity have created a “vast – and often opaque” landscape, the Secretary-General said.
“There is no easy way to know what already exists, or what has been adopted across different bodies,” he warned. “The risks of duplication and overlap are clear.”
Guterres emphasized that mandates are the responsibility of Member States, “They are the expression of your will. And they are the sole property and responsibility of Member States. The vital task of creating, reviewing or retiring them lies with you – and you alone. Our role is to implement them – fully, faithfully, and efficiently.” He called for reforms that would include “fewer meetings, fewer reports,” and more tailored, transparent systems for monitoring and reporting on mandate implementation.
