Future United Nations Development System (FUNDS)
- Barbara Crossette
- • January 28, 2019
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As the first effects of Secretary-General António Guterres’s ambitious organizational reform plans become apparent, former and current officials of the United Nations Development Program see the future of the internationally influential agency as uncertain if not in peril. Fears…
- Categories: Development, Health and Population, SDGs
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- Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss
- • May 14, 2017
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There is an ongoing process of change in the United Nations development system, albeit a slow one given the size of the challenges. At the country level, more UN country teams (UNCTs) are endorsing the principles of Delivering as…
- Categories: Development, SDGs
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- Opinion by Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss
- • March 27, 2017
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GENEVA — Whether or not he is a fan of Chinese characters, António Guterres will have to discover the double meaning of a crisis as opportunity. United Nations corridors on First Avenue in New York are buzzing with anxiety…
- Categories: OPINIONS, Secretary-General, US-UN Relations
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- Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss
- • January 19, 2017
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António Guterres, the new United Nations secretary-general, was chosen on merit and takes over the UN during an especially turbulent period and after a decade of low-key leadership and low staff morale. The “first” UN of governments includes the…
- Categories: Secretary-General
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- Fiona Curtin, Thomas G. Weiss and Stephen Browne
- • April 3, 2016
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The results of the latest FUNDS survey of global experts, conducted during the winter of 2015-16, contains clear messages about the next United Nations secretary-general: s/he should be a world leader with integrity and political courage who will prioritize…
- Categories: General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council
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- Nicholas Micinski and Thomas G. Weiss
- • February 4, 2016
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The unprecedented influx of refugees and migrants to Europe has increased the visibility of the longstanding nexus of migration, development and security. The emphasis on terrorism and national security is understandable but myopic if the essential benefits of migration…
- Categories: Development, SDGs
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- Barbara Crossette
- • October 10, 2015
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When the United Nations’ member states gave final approval at a special General Assembly session on Sept. 25 to the new global development policy, they were making a commitment to the most wide-ranging and ambitious plan ever attempted by…
- Categories: Development, SDGs
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- Bertrand G. Ramcharan
- • September 3, 2015
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This month, a summit of world leaders at the United Nations is to adopt a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to take the relay from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which have yielded mixed results when it comes…
- Categories: Human Rights, SDGs
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- Saraswathi Menon
- • August 10, 2015
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The 2010 creation of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (or UN Women) represented an unusual organizational consolidation instead of the typical proliferation. It had a promising start under strong leadership but faces serious challenges…
- Categories: UN Agencies, Women
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- Helmut Volger
- • April 19, 2015
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The United Nations is now discussing in a broad consultation process the sustainable development goals: a new universal set of ambitions for economic and social development, made up of targets and indicators that all countries are expected to use…
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- Dulcie Leimbach
- • February 23, 2015
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Convinced that after 70 years it is time to choose a woman for the United Nations’ top job of secretary-general, a new movement led by an academic spcialist on the organization has been assembled to formally support the election…
- Categories: Secretary-General, Security Council, US-UN Relations, Women
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- Opinion by Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss
- • December 9, 2014
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GENEVA — For only the second time — the first was in 1996 — the electoral campaigns for the American president and the United Nations secretary-general are running in parallel. Both promise to be long and protracted. Each already…
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- Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss
- • August 22, 2014
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One year ago, the report of a high-level panel of world leaders and renowned development specialists proposed 12 goals and 50 indicators for the United Nation’s post-2015 agenda. These were already unwieldy numbers, but after a year and a…
- Categories: Development
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- Opinion by Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss
- • June 10, 2014
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GENEVA — For those with longer memories, the latest dip in resources for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the staff cutbacks and restructuring announced by its administrator, Helen Clark, in May are merely the onset of another…
- Categories: OPINIONS
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- Barbara Crossette
- • May 26, 2014
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An unusual survey of 3,400 people worldwide who know the United Nations has found strong support for some basic rethinking over the next decade on the organization’s work in development. Among the recommendations, over two-thirds of respondents suggested adding…
- Categories: Development
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