A United Nations report seeking ways to improve efficiency and cost reduction has revealed: UN reports are not widely read.
On Friday, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, informed the countries of the report, produced by his UN80 reform working group who focused on how the UN staff implemented thousands of mandates which were given to them by organizations such as the General Assembly or the Security Council.
He said last year that the United Nations system supported 27,000 meetings involving 240 bodies and that the United Nations secretariat has produced 1,100 reports, an increase of 20% since 1990.
“The large number of meetings and reports pushes the system – and all of us – at the point of rupture,” said Guterres.
“Many of these reports are not widely read,” he said. “The 5% of reports are downloaded more than 5,500 times, while one in five reports receives less than 1,000 downloads. And the download does not necessarily mean reading.”
Guterres launched the UN80 working group in March while the UN – which is 80 years old this year – faces a liquidity crisis for at least the seventh consecutive year, because the 193 UN Member States do not pay their compulsory compulsory contributions in full or time.
The report published by the working group Thursday does not cover one of the many reform angles later.
Among the suggestions that Guterres presented on Friday: “fewer meetings. Fewer reports, but which can fully meet the requirements of all mandates.”
