Conceived as an open letter to the incoming UN Secretary-General, this report by Cepei and IDOS sets out a strategic agenda for the first 1000 days of the next UN leadership. Drawing on more than 150 stakeholder surveys, 80 interviews and an analysis of funding flows and voting patterns, it diagnoses a “triple disconnect” at the heart of the UN development system: a structural gap between those who formally govern, those who fund, and the programme countries most affected by UN decisions.
Against this backdrop, the report identifies four forms of leverage available to the next SG (symbolic, managerial, network and Charter power) and lays out five strategic priorities: make power visible, realign money and governance, democratize decision-making, strengthen coordination and embed inclusion. The bottom line: the UN is ungovernable by design, and the task of the next Secretary-General is to make it governable by choice.
