Massive UN shake-up? Leaked memo reveals plans to merge major agencies amid US aid cuts

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - The high-level review comes as UN agencies scramble to cope with the fallout from US foreign aid cuts under President Donald Trump that have gutted humanitarian agencies. — AFP pic

GENEVA, May 2 — The United Nations is considering a massive overhaul that would merge major departments and shift resources across the globe, according to an internal memo prepared by senior officials tasked with reforming the world body.

The high-level review comes as UN agencies scramble to cope with the fallout from US foreign aid cuts under President Donald Trump that have gutted humanitarian agencies.

The six-page document, marked “strictly confidential” and reviewed by Reuters, contains a list of what it terms “suggestions” that would consolidate dozens of UN agencies into four primary departments: peace and security, humanitarian affairs, sustainable development, and human rights.

Under one option, for example, operational aspects of the World Food Programme, the UN children’s agency, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN refugee agency would be merged into a single humanitarian entity, it said.

The memo contains a range of suggestions, some large, some small, some speculative, which, if all adopted, would represent the most sweeping reforms in decades.

It suggests merging the UN AIDS agency into the WHO, and reducing the need for up to six translators at meetings. Another suggestion proposes merging the World Trade Organization — which is not a UN entity — with UN development agencies.

One official familiar with the memo called it a starting point.

But the language of the internal self-assessment appears to confirm what both supporters and critics of the global body have long said: that the UN needs streamlining. In a series of observations, the memo refers to “overlapping mandates”, “inefficient use of resources”, “fragmentation and duplication”, and notes a bloating of senior positions.

It describes “systemic challenges” the UN faces, problems exacerbated as the General Assembly continues to add missions and programs. “Increased mandates, often without clear exit strategies, and complexities have led to significant overlaps, inefficiencies and increased costs,” the document said.

The memo was prepared by a task force appointed in March by Secretary General António Guterres, who said at the time the body needed to make itself more cost-effective.

The task force, considering long-term structural changes, is in addition to shorter-term cost-cutting efforts. Some diplomats have described the effort as a proactive step to help forestall deeper US cuts.

“The memo is the result of an exercise to generate ideas and thoughts from senior officials on how to achieve the Secretary General’s vision,” said Guterres’ spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric. — Reuters