JAKARTA - The United Nations (UN) has cut 21 percent of staff positions for the 2026 budget as part of its austerity efforts.
"Specifically, we have cut 21 percent of posts for 2026 - while minimizing the impact on staff, which was facilitated by the steps we started at the beginning of 2024," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as reported by ANTARA from Sputnik, Friday, May 29.
"We have consolidated 11 teams into a common administration platform that serves 6,000 personnel in New York - with five additional duty locations to follow," he said.
According to him, in the 2027 budget, the UN will continue these efforts by reducing the layers of hierarchy at the senior level and starting to reduce senior-level positions, which is expected to be further expanded into the 2028 budget.
Last year Guterres launched the UN80 Initiative which includes operational audits to streamline spending.
The reforms come amid cuts to the United States' contribution to the UN budget and a reassessment of funding for various programs by the Trump administration.
The UN80 initiative is a reform effort of the UN that was launched to make the organization more agile, cost-effective, and integrated to respond more effectively to global challenges amid geopolitical tensions and shrinking resources.
The initiative was also carried out to strengthen the performance of the UN in the fields of peace and security, sustainable development, human rights and building a more coherent system to provide tangible results for humans and the earth.
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