Opinion: At the UN, we need to do better with less. Here’s how
By Nicole Goldin, David Passarelli // 19 June 2025
The United Nations, an 80-year-old organization and a cornerstone of the multilateral syste, is having to respond to a swell of new demands for budget cuts and efficiencies. The U.N. could be undermined in the process if we don’t proceed with care. This is especially true of the U.N.’s development work.
There is one theme around which recent global sustainable development conversations have coalesced: The need to do better with less. Better outcomes. Better equity. Better governance. But, with less funding, less time, less leadership, and less trust.
We are all being asked to navigate a complex and unstable global landscape, and at the U.N., also seize a rare opportunity for ‘architectural change’.
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About the authors
Nicole Goldin
Nicole Goldin is head of equitable development at UNU-Centre for Policy Research and nonresident senior fellow of the Atlantic Council. She leads research on development cooperation and effectiveness, inequality, inclusive growth, AI and digital finance in development. Among prior roles, she was lead economist at the World Bank, senior adviser at the U.S. State Department and USAID. She holds a doctorate in economics.
David Passarelli
David Passarelli is the director of UNU Center for Policy Research. He leads research on multilateralism and economic cooperation and directs the center’s Global Governance Innovation Platform. In 2022-2023, he co-led the secretariat of the U.N. Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism. He holds a Ph.D. in International Development from the University of Oxford.
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