The UN80 Initiative is entering a ‘delivery phase’, when Member States review progress in key areas of work

Guy Ryder, Deputy Secretary-General for Policy, said the broader reform effort was now entering a new phase. “We are now entering a delivery-focused phase of our work, capitalizing on the momentum generated by recent achievements”.

Launched last year, the UN80 Initiative is a system-wide effort to reshape how the UN works so that every mandate, fund and decision has a greater impact on people and the planet.

Based on the UN80 Action Plan, this is unifying 86 actions to strengthen how the entire system delivers peace and security, development, human rights and humanitarian assistance, grouped into related ‘work packages’.

Mr Ryder pointed to recent progress, including the adoption of a landmark resolution by the General Assembly last week to strengthen how UN mandates are created, implemented and reviewed, as well as the completion of more than 80 per cent of UN mandates. initial milestone throughout the Action Plan.

A consolidated report will be published next monthhe added, will establish “a a clear and comprehensive picture of our position on each work package, as well as the completion path and schedule.”

Consolidate expertise on gender equality and reproductive health

One of the most important elements of a briefing is a person’s presentation initial assessment possible merger between the two UNFPA And UN Women.

Deputy Secretary General Aminah Muhammad framing the discussion against a rapidly changing global context. “UNFPA and UN Women have demonstrated their ability to deliver consistent results for women, girls and youth for decades, but the context continues to evolve and be complex,” she said. “So, we know that the status quo is not an option.”

That preliminary findings suggest that an integrated institutional framework could bring together UN Women’s gender expertise and UNFPA’s mandate on sexual and reproductive health and rights into one platform, with the potential to strengthen coherence, expand reach and improve delivery across more than 150 countries and territories.

Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, stressed that the question is not whether the two institutions are performing well, but whether the current structures are able to face future challenges.

“The issue is whether…different configurations can better equip the UN system to translate globally agreed commitments into more consistent, measurable and impactful outcomes for women, girls and adolescents,” he said.

For Diene Keita, Executive Director of UNFPA, this assessment shows both opportunities and complexities.

“A potential merger of this magnitude is extremely complex,” he said, adding that “phased sequencing and explicit operational safeguards will be critical to ensuring continuity of delivery.”

Ultimately, officials stressed, the decision rests with the Member States.

Women and girls attend a digital literacy course, supported by UNFPA, in Bangui, Central African Republic.

Repairing a fragmented digital backbone

If the proposed merger leads to structural change, then technology work packages focuses on something more operational: how the UN actually functions behind the scenes.

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (That), describes a system that invests heavily in technology and is limited by the way it is organized.

“This level of investment underscores the strategic importance of ICT, but also underscores the opportunity to optimize how these resources are used,” he said, noting that the UN spends about $2.5 billion annually on digital infrastructure.

The problem, according to him, is not with the tools, but with the structure.

“The main obstacle is not the technology itself, but actually fragmentation… funding constraints and governance complexity,” he said.

That The proposed solution is to improve shared services, reduce duplication, and build a system-wide platform to accelerate the use of digital and artificial intelligence tools.an effort intended to make the UN more connected, and ultimately more effective.

Catherine Russell, Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), delivers a speech at the informal plenary meeting of the General Assembly on the UN80 Initiative.

Establish a single entry point for UN data

Meanwhile, below data job packageThe UN is developing a UN General Dataa single public platform designed to unify collections of official data and statistics currently spread across multiple institutions.

Li Junhua, Deputy Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said the aim is clear.

“Member States need data that is timely, reliable and easy to use,” he said, noting that fragmentation has made it difficult to use the UN’s vast information resources.

The platform, expected to be operational in September 2026, will offer a single point of access, reducing duplication and making data easier to compare and apply.

Catherine Russell, Executive Director UNICEFsaid the effort also aims to build a stronger foundation for how data is organized and shared.

“If we get this program right, Member States and other users will benefit from one place to find trusted data and from a stronger foundation for keeping that data reliable, usable and relevant over time,” he said.

Follow progress

Progress under the UN80 Initiative can be tracked public dashboardwhich provides an overview of actions, schedules, and implementation across the system.

The General Assembly continues to hold monthly informal briefings on the Initiative, and the next briefing is scheduled for April 29.