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The session is fully devoted to reform issues, primarily the proposed merger of UNWomen with UNFPA. The Board will review and presumably take a decision on the additional information provided by UNWomen and UNFPA on the merger option, Ernst & Young's review of alternatives and the civil society consultation. In addition the session will review the Structured Financing Dialogue and the Annual joint report of UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and UNWomen on the implementation of the joint cost- recoverypolicy, including differentiated cost-recovery rates and approved waivers, as well as progress on considering which of the JIU's recommendations to implement arising from its review of the governance and oversight functions of the NY-based Boards.

Reform issues to be covered at the session include: an update on the Structured Financing Dialogue (Funding Compact); UNICEF's implementation of UN80, which is primarily in relation to its specific engagement with work packages 2, 5, 6, 16 and 18; and progress on the consideration of which of the JIU recommendations to implement from its review of the governance and oversight of the Executive Boards of UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS, UNICEF and UN-Women.

Reform issues to be discussed include the Structured Dialogue on Financing (Funding Compact) for UNDP and UNFPA, and a joint segment on engagement with UN80, as well as the JIU review of the governance and oversight functions of the NY-based Boards. On the Financing Dialogue, UNDP notes that it, like the development system as a whole is experiencing declining levels of flexible funding and a widening gap between the UN Funding Compact's ambitions and funding realities.

This UN80 briefing is in response to Member States request to review alternative options to merging UNFPA and UNWomen and for further evidence-based analysis on costs, savings, risks, governance implications, implementation modalities, timelines, mandate preservation, civil society engagement and links to broader UN80 reform workstreams. A joint note from UNFPA and UNWomen provides further evidence, and the findings of Ernst & Young's review of alternative options, which also compares risks and costs of alternative scenarios and a merger, along with the results of a further civil society consultation will be presented and discussed. Separately on 20 August, the Board will discuss the UNWomen's update on the Funding Compact, which shows that progress towards member state commitments has declined rather than improved in 2025 across virtually all targets, while UNWomen remains largely on track with their commitments.

The organizational change briefing is focused on UNICEF's Future Focus Initiative, with the aim of strategically repositioning UNICEF to enable it to deliver on the ambitious targets of the 2026-2029 Strategic Plan in a constrained financial environment. It includes HQ and Regional office consolidations, staff relocations to lower cost duty stations, new country office typologies, the creation of 4 centers of excellence, and the enhancement of shared services and remote support. There is a separate update on UNICEF's engagement with UN80 focused on the Work Packages (WP) where UNICEF is a co-lead or that have direct implications for UNICEF: the new Humanitarian Compact (WP 2); UN country configurations (WP 5); the Regional Reset (WP 6); UN system Data Commons (WP 16) and Funding Mechanisms (WP 18).