Remarks by the President of the General Assembly
H.E. Ms. Annalena Baerbock
Informal meeting of the plenary to hear a briefing on the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ80 Initiative?
21 November ?2025
?
[As Delivered]
Excellencies,
Allow me to begin by thanking the Under-Secretary-General for joining us this afternoon to brief on the Action Plan of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ80 Initiative.
The Plan is the result of dozens of consultations across the entirety of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ System and provides a step-by-step process by which to enact the reform agenda.
It furthermore serves as a useful tool for Member States to track progress across the proposals and workstreams of the entirety of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ80 Initiative.
Today¡¯s discussion is the fourth meeting we have held on the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ80 Initiative this session and follows the recent briefing by the Secretary-General on Workstream 3. Taken together, these engagements underscore our shared vision for a stronger and more efficient United Nations.
The Action Plan is a response to the comments and questions during these earlier discussions ¡ª including requests for comprehensive and timely information to support deliberations, and the need for a transparent and inclusive process with a clear timeline and roadmap.
And the Under Secretary-General and I met yesterday and discussed this point; from the beginning of January, we will have more meetings and provide an overview of the timeline, allowing for a more in-depth debate on the concrete proposals.
Because I believe that this clarity, and these continued transparent and inclusive discussions, are essential if we are to ensure ownership by the Membership of this reform process.
As mentioned on previous occasions, ¡°every Member State, every mission, every capital, must own this process.¡± The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ80 Initiative can only succeed through that collective ownership and continued dialogue, as clearly outlined in Resolution 79/318.
On this point, I would also like to acknowledge the ongoing work under the other streams of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ80 Initiative, including consultations and briefings led by the co-chairs of the Informal Ad Hoc Working Group on Mandate Implementation Review, Ambassadors Brian Wallace (Jamaica) and Carolyn Schwalger (New Zealand), for your intense and very engaging work.
I would also recognize the ongoing work of the ACABQ and the Fifth Committee on the revised estimates for the 2026 programme budget.
These parallel efforts form an integral part of the broader reform landscape and are heavily important. I therefore encourage all Member States to continue working together to agree on solutions in each of these areas, especially on the ongoing budgetary debates.
The revised estimates, in particular, will play an important role in the implementation of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ80 Initiative, and I therefore encourage all of you to work together to agree on a budget before the holidays.
Excellencies,
Looking ahead, I will continue to play my role as a convener, creating space for you, the Membership, to hold constructive dialogues ¡ª both intergovernmentally and between Member States and the Secretariat.
This includes convening another informal meeting on 11 December, where the co-chairs of the Informal Ad Hoc Working Group on Mandate Implementation Review will update the Member States on the discovery phase of that process.
It will also include a more substantive briefing by the Secretariat on progress on some of the work packages detailed in the Action Plan.
Colleagues,
In September, I said we were at a crossroads ¡ª we are still at this make-or-break moment.
It will take each of us, working together, to set this institution on a path that is both cost-effective and delivery-efficient ¡ª a path that responds to the needs of the world today, and tomorrow.
I thank all of you who have come forward with your own proposals in this work, because it¡¯s crystal clear, as we have seen in the latest important declarations we took in Doha and the ongoing negotiations in Belem right now, that this institution needs reform. This institution is more important than ever. But if we are not leading these reforms, they will be led by others. We need to make clear that we can be stronger and better together.
I look forward to continuing to work with each of you to make this a reality.
Thank you.