GENEVA, Jun 24 (IPS) – “We’re writing to you relating to the cuts being undertaken below the UN80 Initiative and, extra broadly, throughout the UN system. Whereas we’re conscious of the present funding challenges, we consider that the rushed and chaotic method wherein these adjustments are being applied is inflicting deeper hurt to each the effectiveness and fame of the United Nations.
The “slash and burn” method adopted below the UN80 plan, led by Mr. Man Ryder, adviser to the Secretary-Common, dangers not solely damaging our mission and harming our beneficiaries; it is usually proving pricey at a time when the Group can least afford it.
Moreover, lots of the adjustments are prone to be reversed sooner or later, as the following Secretary-Common works to re-establish coherence and relevance inside the system.
When it comes to the mission of the United Nations, the implications of the shortage of funding are already stark. An analysis of the affect means that 23 million fewer individuals affected by humanitarian crises will obtain help. There might be 4.2 million further AIDS-related deaths. It means hundreds of thousands of youngsters vulnerable to being pushed out of college— with an estimated 250,000 in Sudan alone.
It additionally signifies that help for the vitality transition, growth financing, and counterterrorism efforts can be weakened. Whereas creating international locations would be the first and hardest hit, many of those impacts can be international. As famous by outgoing UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner within the Monetary Instances, we’re witnessing a “structural destruction of capability.”
The funding cuts are already inflicting critical hurt, with skilled frontline employees— particularly nationwide workers in creating international locations—being dismissed with little discover, in addition to worldwide colleagues who’ve served in a few of the most complicated and high-risk environments.
The administration of the UN80 course of below Mr. Ryder, dangers deepening the disaster and raises critical points about coherence and imaginative and prescient. It begins with a poor understanding of mandates. For instance, leaked proposals have advised merging the United Nations with the World Financial institution and Worldwide Financial Fund, an thought that isn’t solely unfeasible however basically misunderstands the roles of those establishments.
Even for these organizations extra built-in inside the UN system, no thought has been given to how these concepts might realistically be applied, or of the suitable position of Member States. As an illustration, the suggestion to merge the United Nations Excessive Commissioner for Refugees and the Worldwide Group for Migration would weaken rights protections below the 1951 Refugee Conference.
These proposals additionally mirror the arbitrary approach job drive members had been appointed, which means that some entities and growth mandates are unvoiced within the course of. We see a danger that some senior managers will seize the chance to develop their very own entities on the expense of others.
In a latest workers townhall, Mr. Ryder admitted that the reform course of is being carried out “again to entrance”, as strategic choices will solely be made after there had been a 20% ‘throughout the board lower’ of Secretariat posts inside the United Nations, including to the 1000’s of positions throughout the broader UN system.
Which means whereas discussions below UN80 are ongoing, managers are being pressured to make troublesome and pointless selections with out a clear rationale. This rushed method additionally carries important monetary prices.
We estimate that every workers termination or relocation prices $100,000 as soon as indemnities, relocation, and coaching are factored in. Throughout the system, this can quantity to a minimal of $930 million in prices to Member States, with no suggestion of how this can be paid for. As seen in earlier rushed downsizing efforts, new workers will rapidly must be (re)employed, incurring additional bills.
We’ve got urged Mr. Ryder, as soon as a revered champion of social dialogue, to start by figuring out how the strengths of the UN system may be aligned with the wants of our beneficiaries to maximise affect at each the worldwide and nation ranges, and make the UN match for the long run.
Reform must be guided by these rules and knowledgeable by inclusive session, recognizing that colleagues on the bottom typically have a extra correct understanding of how the UN operates, slightly than senior administration in New York.
Sadly, our appeals have gone unacknowledged. We subsequently hope that you simply, the Member States, will scrutinize the UN80 course of completely; to think about the harm it could inflict on the effectiveness of the United Nations, and to help a extra strategic and sustainable method to restructuring and financing the UN system.”
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