UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced on Wednesday the UN80 Initiative, a streamlining programme named after the 80th anniversary of the world organization. Skeptics suggested that the program will be a largely sensual attempt to drive US spending cuts by vaguely mimicking the government efficiency (DOGE) of America's new fat trimming.
“These efforts aren't over in themselves. They are about serving better people to those whose lives depend on us. They are about hardworking taxpayers all over the world who take on everything we do,” Guterres said. I said Wednesday reporter.
“It is essential that an organizational system as complex and important as the United Nations undergoes rigorous and regular scrutiny to assess its suitability for the purpose of efficiently implementing its goals,” he said.
“This 80th anniversary of the United Nations is a major moment to expand all our efforts and recognize the need for even more urgency and ambition,” he continued.
“This goes far beyond technology. The UN budget is not just about balance sheet numbers, it's a matter of life and death for millions of people around the world,” he declared.
Guterres said that streamlining and belt tightening is needed as “resources are shrinking completely and have been shrinking for a while.”
“For at least the past seven years, the United Nations has Liquidity crisis Because not all member states pay in full, and many don't pay on time,” he complained.
According to the United Nations, only 75 of the 193 member states paid full “assessment contributions” in 2025. Last year, 152 member countries paid all fees by the end of December.
Guterres promised to “move as quickly as possible in the area where I have authority,” urging individual member states to “consider the many decisions that are with them.”
His rhetoric was very similar to that of President Donald Trump and his cost-cutting advisor Elon Musk, but Guterres insisted that UN80 was not a “doge version.” He also said the program is not a rushed response to the Trump administration's cuts in UN funding.
Many critics of the United Nations, and Guterres's leadership as secretary general, found these claims difficult to believe.
“He now has eight to ten years of opportunity to start what he wants. There's not enough time for his remaining 18 or 19 months of tenure to provide a reason to pivot and think that Elon Musk will burn the world in a way that will become a footrace.” I said Hugh Dugan, head of the Watchdog Group, has been called. Doge-un.
Guterres was Appointment He will continue his second term as Secretary General in June 2021. His second term expires in December 2026.
Dugan said Guterres' UN80 plan already had been told by UN insiders that “actual cuts” were not included in the UN's luxury spending.
Dugan made a comment to Fox News Digital. This asked Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric if the United Nations was worried about the United Nations being deeply cut US funding for the United Nations. Dujarric postponed the Guterres press conference earlier in the day and refused to answer.
Human Rights Director Anne Beyfsky's Turo Institute was criticising the United Nations as “a bloated, corrupt, and highly anti-American and anti-Semitic institution.”
“Every time the US government tries to explain the power of the wallet or hold or use it to change this meaningless equation, the UN drives out the fake 'reform' and America falls,” warned Beyfsky.
“President Trump And Doge can change this evil situation,” she said.
Beyfsky said Guterres was “scared” because he feared that nonsense about engaging in an “ambitious reform agenda” would be invoked.
Michael Rubin, Senior Fellow of American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Proposed Last week, the United Nations became available to visits from Doge. He then advised Secretary of State Marco Rubio to withhold all UN funds unless Guterres agreed to arrange such a visit.
“Many Americans may complain about their efforts to jumpstart the economy by returning fiscal responsibility to the government and reducing tax burdens, but even most spending members in Congress look like fiscal conservatives next to the bloated bureaucrats of the people,” he said.
“As socialist and former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres became secretary general and began erupting around the world, UN total spending increased rapidly, increasing almost 12% or $7 billion between 2021 and 2022,” he said.
Rubin pointed out that Guterres was not a careful steward for the UN fund, including the United Nations Commission on Soups and Soup, its luxuriously funded boutique postal service, and large spending on unnecessary travel during the Teleconference era.
