The UN at 80: Broke, blocked and still indispensable

Despite structural flaws and funding shortfalls, multilateral cooperation offers the only path through turmoil.

Izabela Pereira Watts

19 September 20254 min read

The United Nations General Assembly convenes its 80th session next week in New York. Yet the mood is far from celebratory, even for the International Day of Peace, as Sunday, 21 September is marked. Profound global turbulence is instead evident, in rising rates of armed conflict, humanitarian catastrophe, climate breakdown, democratic erosion, and institutional fatigue.

Despite its structural fragilities, the UNGA remains the only multilateral body with universal representation, where each of the 193 member states holds one vote. This year’s theme, “Better Together: 80 Years and More for Peace, Development and Human Rights”, is equally ambitious, urgent and a call for unity amid paralysis. This comes against a backdrop of wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan.

The most evident impasse for the United Nations is on the Security Council. The mission to safeguard international peace and security remains stymied by the veto power of the permanent five members. The war in Ukraine sees Russia block any effective international response, while the conflict in Gaza has seen five repeated US vetoes of ceasefire resolutions. The Security Council logjam has reignited calls for significant reform, including expansion of permanent membership and curtailment of veto power in cases of mass atrocity, under what had been championed as a Responsibility to Protect (R2P) agenda. Yet any change would require the concurrence of the permanent members.

Until now, 70 member states have not paid their 2025 core contributions … In the real world, if you don’t pay, you don’t play.

While many member states recognise Palestinian statehood, formal recognition within the UN system remains elusive. The General Assembly may see renewed efforts to elevate the status of the State of Palestine, one of only two observer states at the UN alongside the Holy See. France has been joined by Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia as the latest countries pledging to extend recognition. Yet, as per Article 4 of the UN Charter, membership requires Security Council approval. Attempts to grant the State of Palestine full UN recognition have been consistently vetoed by the United States.

The UNGA agenda is vast. Climate change remains central, with the UN Climate Summit running parallel to the General Debate and ahead of COP30. The Assembly will confront the widening gap between climate pledges and action, as extreme weather events devastate communities worldwide. The intersection of climate, conflict, displacement, and development, will be a recurring theme, demanding integrated responses and renewed financial support amid economic decline and political inertia. This cannot be separated from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which face ongoing assessment.

Financing is where the UN faces its most acute internal crisis. Funding cuts from major donors have left UN agencies overstretched and under-resourced. As UN High Commissioner for Refugees Felippo Grandi lamented: “I don’t want people to tell me to keep doing more with less.” The world body is at the point of doing everything with nothing.

Until now, 70 member states have not paid their 2025 core contributions. This includes the major contributor, the United States, which alone owes $1.5 billion in outstanding payments. In the real world, if you don’t pay, you don’t play.

Importantly, the UNGA is responsible for approving the UN budget. The 2026 proposal outlines more than $500 million in reductions and introduces the first measures of the “UN80 Initiative”. Peacekeeping operations will not escape deep axes. Cutting programs, halting recruitment, and relocating UN agencies to Nairobi are no longer viable strategies if member states fail to pay their dues.

The UN Security Council votes on a draft resolution on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, with a veto exercised by the United States, 18 September 2025 (Evan Schneider and Laura Jarriel/UN Photo)

Secretary-General António Guterres has called for a “time to silence the guns, it’s time for diplomacy and dialogue”, urging member states to recommit to diplomacy and multilateralism in an increasingly militarised world. His appeal is not rhetorical: it is a plea for relevance. In a geopolitical landscape dominated by great power rivalry and nationalist retrenchment, the UN’s convening power is one of its last remaining assets.

The UNGA will not deliver sweeping reform, but it may catalyse a “reform within the reform” with incremental steps toward restoring legitimacy and efficacy. Critics often ask, “What is the UN for?” to dismiss it as obsolete. Its structural weaknesses via consensus-based decision-making, limited enforcement power, and reliance on voluntary funding, are precisely what make it indispensable.

The UN is not the saviour of the world, nor was it designed to be. Like it or not, it is the only global institution with the expertise and structure to facilitate dialogue, coordinate humanitarian response, and uphold international norms.

With little to celebrate, the UNGA finds an organisation at the crossroads to confront its present and shape its future. Member states must resist the temptation to retreat into unilateralism or transactional diplomacy. Instead, they must embrace imperfection in the absence of any other alternative.

The theme “Better Together” is more than a slogan. It is a warning. The UN is flawed. It must be strengthened. Not replaced, nor disregarded. In a world on fire, even imperfect cooperation is better than none.

About the author

Izabela Pereira Watts

Dr Izabela Pereira Watts is a former UN peacekeeper, multi-award winner, with an extensive career of 20 years of experience and a robust aptitude for international security and international development cooperation.

Topics

United Nations