If you have been paying any attention to the United Nations in recent months, you will have heard something about the UN80 Initiative, the latest U.N. reform aimed officially at making the world body operate more efficiently, and unofficially, at persuading the Trump administration not to further slash funding to the United Nations.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres launched the effort in March and appointed Guy Ryder, U.N. undersectary-general for policy, to lead a task force to implement the reforms. The number 80 stands for the 80th anniversary of the U.N.’s founding in 1945.
So, what is UN80, why is it important, and why is it generating so much resistance from within the world body?