The guide describes the objectives and actions being taken to achieve them, the progress made to date on those actions, and the work planned for the coming months (as well as whether an intergovernmental process is planned).
“We are tackling some of the most complex issues facing the United Nations system,” Ryder said, “and I believe we are making real progress, both in the way we understand these challenges and in the way we are shaping solutions together.”
‘Take a step forward and take a step forward’
Mr Ryder’s presentation was followed by updates from senior United Nations officials on three of the work packages of the UN80 Action Plan (the Shared Platform Initiative, the Regional Reset and the Joint Knowledge Centres).
Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, explained that the Shared Platform Initiative – which aims to improve collaboration between humanitarian and development functions and simplify the work of Resident Coordinators and Humanitarian Coordinators – is about “overcoming complexity and building collaboration between humanitarian and development action.”
The internationally coordinated humanitarian response, Ms. Mohammed added, is moving to national coordination. He called on the development response to “step up and step up.”
Tom Fletcher, the UN humanitarian chief, spoke by video conference from Baidoa, Somalia, a location he said illustrates the importance of ensuring the UN’s humanitarian and development pillars work together much more closely and effectively. “The people I’m meeting today,” he said, “are concerned about the combination of flash floods and droughts. We can meet those humanitarian needs as much as we can, but without that investment in development for water storage, water monitoring, dams and water infrastructure, we won’t be able to adequately turn that situation around.”
Better results in the field
Ms. Mohammed also reported on the progress of the Regional Reset, an attempt to improve the current fragmented UN regional architecture, which has more than 240 regional offices and multiple entities working in parallel, sometimes out of step with countries’ needs.
This raises costs, weakens coordination with governments, partners and national teams, and limits the system’s ability to address regional and national challenges.
The reform process, he said, is not about creating new structures, but about making existing systems “work as one and better.” The success of the Regional Reset, he continued, will depend on “whether we can translate these proposals into more timely support to countries, more coherent responses to regional challenges and, ultimately, more tangible results on the ground.”
Sharing United Nations knowledge and experience
The third area discussed in the briefing was Joint Knowledge Centres, a response to a central challenge: the fact that knowledge across the UN development system remains dispersed across entities, with overlapping mandates, fragmented products and insufficiently integrated policy support.
The aim of the centers is to share knowledge on priority issues, reduce duplication, strengthen coherence and make knowledge more accessible to Member States. Currently in pilot phase, the expectation is that by September 2026 they will be fully operational, providing consistent and effective support across the UN by integrating data, knowledge and experience.
“By leveraging existing knowledge across entities around shared priority issues, these centers reduce duplication, strengthen system-wide coherence and ensure that the wealth of UN knowledge is more readily available to support the needs and priorities of Member States,” Li Junhua, head of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), told delegates.
Pedro Manuel Moreno, acting head of the United Nations agency for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), explained that the hubs under development will focus on three main areas: trade and regional integration, productive transformation and strategic foresight.
The centers, Moreno said, will mean “more harmonized data, statistics and analysis” for UN member states, and “more coherent political support, building on the strengths of each entity rather than duplicating them.”
Progress under the UN80 Initiative can be followed through a public boardwhich provides an overview of actions, schedules, and implementation across the system.