Multilateral organisations have periodically sought to improve their efficiency, particularly in response to episodic reductions in funding or pressure from donors to demonstrate cost-effectiveness. As global funding tightens and demands on the multilateral system grow, efficiency – particularly of United Nations (UN) entities – is receiving heightened scrutiny, resulting in more systematic approaches. Many organisations have introduced explicit efficiency-related objectives in their recent strategic plans, increasingly focused on achieving cost savings while sustaining an effective system.
In March 2025, the UN Secretary-General launched the UN80 initiative, aimed at making the UN more efficient, effective and agile in a resource-constrained environment. Workstream 1 focuses on efficiency and cost reduction, including by streamlining administrative functions, with emphasis on digitalisation, consolidating structures and relocating services to lower-cost locations, including through shared services.1 In parallel, the UN Secretariat has announced a 15–20% reduction in higher-grade posts, with similar cuts introduced by other UN entities.2
The efficiency and cost-reduction proposals from UN80 Workstream 1 are also integrated into the Revised UN Secretariat Programme Budget for 2026, presented by the Secretary-General on 15 September 2025 to the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACAABQ) for review before deliberations in the Fifth Committee. The revised estimates propose reductions of 15.1% of resources and 18.8% of posts in the regular budget compared with 2025. The 2027 Programme Budget, expected in March/April 2026, will likely also incorporate further UN80 reforms.
This brief focuses on how administrative support systems, organisational structures and operational management practices can reduce costs and improve timeliness, while maintaining quality and effectiveness.
It is part of a series of three thematic briefs on multilateral effectiveness in a shifting landscape, alongside briefs on results and mandate implementation, and on comparative advantage and collaboration. The thematic briefs complement a separate mapping of multilateral organisations’ responses to recent cuts in funding to the multilateral system. Together, these products aim to inform MOPAN members, multilateral organisations and other stakeholders as they navigate reforms.