PGA DRAFT DECISION ON UN80 INITIATIVE: ESTABLISHMENT OF THE INFORMAL AD HOC WORKING GROUP
Statement by H.E Ambassador James Larsen, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations
2 September 2025
President,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of Canada, New Zealand, and my own delegation, Australia.
CANZ welcomes the decision to establish an informal ad hoc working group to consider the proposals contained in the Secretary-General’s Mandate Implementation Review report.
The need for meaningful and substantive reform of the UN system has never been more evident, or more urgent.
We welcome the leadership shown by the Secretary-General in launching the UN80 Initiative, and in developing specific proposals for member state consideration under its three workstreams.
There are many steps the Secretary-General can take in his own capacity to strengthen the focus and effectiveness of this organisation, and we acknowledge his consistent efforts.
But, as we have stated previously, the primary responsibility for achieving a UN system capable of delivering on the outcomes our citizens expect and deserve lies with us, the Member States.
This is especially true for workstream two, which addresses the unintended consequences of the way we, as Member States, create, implement, and review mandates to ensure they are impactful and remain relevant over time.
The Secretary-General’s recent Report paints a very clear picture. Across the UN agenda, we continue to generate new mandates with little regard to their cost, impact, or potential duplication with existing activities.
The Report sets out practical, common-sense steps to improve the focus and impact of our mandates. A good number of them fall within the purview and authority of the Secretary-General, and he should regard himself as empowered to take these forward as a matter of priority.
Others are the responsibility of Member States. Accordingly, we need to recognise our own responsibilities, and we must act with similar urgency to consider and respond to these proposals and beyond.
The establishment of this informal ad hoc working group will provide an open and inclusive forum for all member states. Further, the time-bound nature of its mandate means we need to step up in doing so efficiently and effectively.
We believe several key recommendations from the Report merit particular attention.
First, we welcome the development of a comprehensive online registry of mandates to help avoid duplication alongside tools to assist their drafting and evaluation.
Second, our central focus must be on practical measures to reduce duplication, eliminate redundancies, link mandate decisions with projected costs, enhance efficiencies in implementation, and terminate mandates that are obsolete.
Third, we echo the call for strengthened monitoring and assessment of mandate implementation. This is essential to ensure our words here in New York translate into impact on the ground.
Finally, while it is appropriate that this ad hoc working group focus on the principles and processes guiding mandate creation, implementation, and review, we also need to reach agreement on how we will then apply these principles in practice.
We look forward to engaging further with Member States through the working group.
CANZ wants an effective reform process that results in a resilient and sustainable UN system able to deliver effectively on all three foundational pillars of its work.