Latest News in UN Governance & Reform

This will be WFP's first localization policy. WFP defines localization as a "process that puts local and national actors in the lead and shifts the way WFP’s humanitarian and development work is designed, delivered and funded to better respond to the food security and nutrition priorities and unique needs of affected people in all their diversity." Discussions on empowering local actors to lead and implement humanitarian and development programming have long been underway across civil society but are still a somewhat new issue for many international organizations. Given the current funding crisis and larger rejection of traditional aid models across multiple countries and regions, localization discussions will likely gain prominence as a policy and operational business model in coming months and years.

MOPAN is an independent network of member states who work together – as responsible shareholders and funders – to improve the performance of the multilateral system, making it stronger, better and smarter. This assessment is focused on UNWomen's performance in 2023 and 2024 and is being led by Italy and South Korea.

UNWomen is reducing the proportion of staff based in New York by 10% by moving them closer to the field in Nairobi and Bonn. The aim is to move staff closer to the women and girls they serve, and the organization also expects related cost savings. These include an average annual saving against each position in NY of $52k/year in Bonn and $32k/year in Nairobi, and an average $10,000 savings per position in relation to rent, security and common services costs.

The resolution is still being finalized but there appears to be general agreement against a revision of the staff regulations to incorporate gender-inclusive language. The resolution is also expected to provide guidance on the question of paid internships at the UN Secretariat.

Recent years have seen increasing unpredictability in when member states pay their assessed funding requirements, and a growth in non-payment. As the SG highlights, arrears reached new highs in four of the past six years, and were significantly higher than the liquidity reserves, effectively wiping out such reserves and leaving the Secretariat vulnerable to liquidity shortages. Rigidity in budget management procedures further compounds this vulnerability, with member states only approving some of the measures for increased flexibility that the SG has proposed in recent years.