United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres proposed the need for major staff cuts, including the elimination of 20% of civilian workers in key departments of the U.N. secretariat, and to make hard decisions to eliminate a range of programs they can no longer afford.
The sober briefing on Monday came in response to the Trump administration’s campaign to dramatically scale back U.S. foreign aid, setting a target of some 87% of cuts in its contributions to U.N. activities in a recent budget proposal — though it’s by no means certain the final cut will be that large. The briefing also coincided with moves by the U.N. chief humanitarian, refugee, and migration agencies — which rely on voluntary donations — to lay off thousands of workers.
In Monday’s address to the U.N. membership, Guterres sought to underscore the urgency of undertaking a dramatic set of reforms to shrink the U.N. workforce, eliminate unnecessary tasks, and merge U.N. agencies that may duplicate the work of other U.N. outfits.