U.N. Mulls Cutting 7,000 Jobs, Reorganizing 40 Agencies; U.S. Funding Cuts Force Intl Body to Make Unprecedented Reorganization

Yomiuri Shimbun

a day ago

Yasushi Kaneko / The Yomiuri Shimbun
The U.N. headquarters is seen in New York on June 6.
NEW YORK/GENEVA — The United Nations is considering reorganizing more than 40 agencies, organizations andcutting about 7,000 jobs, including U.N. Secretariat positions, it has been learned.
The U.N. was forced to make an unprecedented large-scale reorganization as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration turning its back on international cooperation and cutting funding for the international body.
The U.N. will eliminate some operations that overlap and reorganize regional offices, particularly in such areas as peacekeeping and development assistance, according to internal documents obtained by The Yomiuri Shimbun and other sources.
After Trump's inauguration in January, there has been pressure to accelerate the process of reviewing organizations and cutting budgets, according to U.N. sources.
According to the documents, there is a proposal to merge the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration and other agencies into a single new agency dealing with humanitarian responses and protections. Another is to merge the U.N. Women and the U.N. Population Fund to create an agency responsible for women and health.
The documents also propose to abolish the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and have it be absorbed into the World Health Organization.
Regarding staff, the documents state that the U.N. is considering cutting about 20% of the about 39,000 jobs, including Secretariat employees at the U.N. headquarters who assist with policy and handle administrative tasks. The cuts will be gradually carried out by not filling posts and by not renewing contracts for short-term staff.
The U.N. also plans to relocate staff from cities with higher costs, such as New York and Geneva to Kenya and other countries, according to the documents.
The U.N. expects to cut costs by about $740 million (about ¥110 billion) through these changes, which need to be approved by member states.
The WHO, which took the lead in streamlining operations, has been forced to close medical facilities and suspend emergency medical services in some areas. There are fears that humanitarian assistance operations will be stalled in other agencies as well.
As the elimination of senior positions will impact interests of individual countries, it will likely lead to backlash from some member states. Twists and turns are anticipated before the reforms are realized.
The U.N. regular budget for the year is about $3.7 billion. The United States, which is the largest contributor, has so far contributed about $740 million per year.
However, the United States has not provided about $1.5 billion, including this year's funding, worsening the U.N.'s financial situation.