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WFP is the only UN entity that has a separate Management Plan to supplement its Strategic Plan. It's one of the few documents that presents a realistic picture of how complex it is to manage an operational UN humanitarian agency. In doing so it is also a useful tool for facilitating member state agreement on addressing management challenges, as we've highlighted in a previous spotlight (https://www.reformworks.org/post/wfp-management-plan).

The protection and accountability policy is also one of the first policies within the UN system to establish a formal accountability mechanisms vis-a-vis beneficiaries rather than member states who are the traditional 'owners' of the UN's accountability structures (see our previous spotlight for more info: https://www.reformworks.org/post/bridging-the-un-accountability-gap-wfps-beneficiary-focused-policy ).

Details on which work packages will become available closer to the meeting date.

The Joint Working Group presented its report at the last sessions of the UNICEF, UNWomen and UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Boards in June and requested comments by 1 July. This discussion is presumably intended to unpack that feedback. Interestingly, as current UN reform initiatives like UN80 claim to be creating a more streamlined, efficient UN system that minimizes duplication, the Joint Working Group has proposed rejecting or only partially accepting many of the recommendations related to clarifying the Boards' roles vis-a-vis similarly mandated bodies like ECOSOC, or harmonizing approaches, including through a joint training programme for all NY-based Board members. The justification is that the General Assembly has already set out roles and a division of labor between bodies more than 30 years ago in the 1994 resolution A/RES/48/162. And while Board members complained to the JIU (and the consultant that undertook a similar review of WFP's Executive Board) about being overloaded, apparently, it's still better for delegates to multiple Boards to undergo a separate induction for each Board. These governance disconnects have plagued UN80's reform efforts as well, as pointed out in our May 2026 spotlight: https://www.reformworks.org/post/un80-better-mandate-information-same-governance-disconnect .

The previous rule never accounted for the situation, which currently exists, that the Secretariat did not fill posts or deliver programmes because member states did not pay the assessed funding to which they all agreed. It essentially assumed that all funds were received and anything not spent was essentially due to a lack of performance, and therefore the unspent funds would be counted as credits for the next year's assessments from member states. This compounded the negative impact of a record level of unpaid and late assessed funding from member states. While the rule change will ease some of the liquidity crisis plaguing the Secretariat, it won't resolve it, particularly given that this is just a temporary change to be reviewed in 4 years.

The briefing will include a general update from Guy Ryder, as well as specific briefings on the Unified Services Roadmap (work package 14) and the assessment of the UN's arrangements to address environmental issues (work package 27).

In addition, several reform topics will be covered. UN80's proposed merger of UNWomen and UNFPA is a key topic with the Strategic Assessment under consideration along with inputs from previous informal consultations of the Commission on the Status of Women and Civil Society Organizations, during which significant concerns were raised. The Board will also provide feedback on the draft recommendations from the Joint Working Group considering implementation of the JIU governance review of the NY-based Boards. The Working Group is proposing that the Boards accept and implement 19 (59%) of the JIU's recommendations, partially accept 6 JIU recommendations and not accept the remaining 7 JIU recommendations. Finally, like the other Board sessions, there will also be an update on the repositioning of the UN development system.

Two reform topics are on the agenda: the repositioning of the UN development system and WFP's role in the collective humanitarian response including its engagement with current humanitarian reforms. UN80 is not on the agenda.

Like the other annual sessions, the Executive Director will present her annual report. There will be a discussion of various reform initiatives including UNICEF's implementation of UN80, the repositioning of the UN Development System, UNICEF's efforts to strengthen its organizational culture and diversity, and the JIU's review of the NY-based Boards' governance and oversight functions. To learn more about the best practices being used in UNICEF"s organizational culture change initiative, check out our previous spotlight: https://www.reformworks.org/post/organizational-culture-change-at-the-un-what-actually-works

In addition to the presentation of the annual reports of all Executive Directors and the heads of UNV and the UNCDF, the session will include discussion of engagement with UN80 and the UNFPA UNWomen merger. The proposed UNDP-UNOPS merger is not on the agenda. Additional discussions are planned on implementation of previous reforms, including the repositioning of the UN Development System, and the JIU's assessment of the NY-based Boards exercise of their governance functions. For an overview of the JIU's review and its implications check out our 2024 spotlight: https://www.reformworks.org/post/why-corporate-governance-reforms-dont-translate-to-un-boards

The half day meeting is designed as an interactive dialogue with two sessions focused on "Governance, mandates and system-wide coherence" and "Operational efficiency, delivery models and partnerships", respectively. Participants have been provided with guiding questions for these discussions, some of which should perhaps have been asked earlier in the process, such as what evidence, analysis and consultation processes member states should be provided to move ahead with UN80 changes.

Previous efforts in 2006 by member states to review and rationalize UNGA mandates failed to yield results after more than a year's worth of meetings.

The briefing included a summary of the joint meeting held between members of the Board with the Commission of the Status of Women, (CSW) which considered the impact of the UNWomen and UNFPA on the CSW. Many of the concerns raised mirrored those highlighted in a formal letter to the SG by several member states, including risks of weakening normative mandates and costs. In addition, several member states raised questions about when and how alternative options - as requested in the letter to the SG - could be considered with appropriate consultation and inputs from member states. Further regional consultations on the merger are being organized by UNWomen for the first week of June. Separately, the UNFPA legal advisor has reportedly highlighted significant risks to UNFPA arising from the merger.