The UN General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted a resolution seeking to improve how the UN system translates decisions into results. The resolution builds on the work of the Informal Ad Hoc Working Group on the Mandate Implementation Review, co-chaired by Jamaica and New Zealand, under Workstream 2 of the UN80 reform initiative.
The UNGA established the Informal Ad Hoc Working Group to consider the proposals contained in the Secretary-General’s July 2025 report on the Mandate Implementation Review.
Informal Ad Hoc Working Group Co-Chairs, Permanent Representative of Jamaica Brian Wallace and Permanent Representative of New Zealand Carolyn Schwalger, presented the final draft to members during a meeting on 23 March 2026. The UNGA adopted the resolution on 31 March.
According to a UN news story, the large number of mandates has created practical challenges, including duplication and overlap, proliferating reports and meetings, and limited visibility and review mechanisms across the UN system. Since 1946, Member States have created 40,000+ resolutions, decisions, and presidential statements, placing a heavy burden on the UN and Member States alike and making it harder to achieve effective and efficient mandate implementation.
By introducing a more structured approach across the full mandate lifecycle, the resolution supports clearer and more focused mandates, stronger and more coordinated implementation, more systematic review of results, and increased transparency.
By the text, the Informal Ad Hoc Working Group on the Mandate Implementation Review will continue its work as the Ad Hoc Working Group on Mandate Implementation Review. The Working Group will be open to all Member States and observers and will resume its work by 1 May 2026, concluding it no later than 30 April 2027.
Among other tasks, the Working Group will:
- Develop a concept note template, resolution and decision templates, model mandate implementation review clauses, and model mandate retirement clauses, by the end of May 2026;
- Develop clear and objective criteria to guide decisions on the renewal, adaptation, merger, replacement, or retirement of UNGA mandates, by the end of August 2026;
- Develop modalities to guide the review of the existing stock of UNGA mandates, by the end of August 2026;
- Explore options for collective mandate implementation reviews and clustered mandate implementation reviews, by mid-December 2026; and
- Receive and consider the Secretary-General’s review of inactive, duplicative, or fully implemented mandates, by the end of March 2027.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the resolution as “a major step,” noting that it “helps translate the ambition of the UN80 Initiative into concrete, practical action.”
Describing the resolution as “an important step to make the UN more agile, more efficient, more effective, and fit for the future, so it can better deliver for the people we serve,” UNGA President Annalena Baerbock indicated she will “soon appoint the two Co-Chairs who will lead the newly formalized Ad Hoc Working Group on Mandate Implementation Review.”
On 6 April, the UNGA will hold an informal meeting to receive the latest update on the UN80 Initiative Action Plan, including proposals under Workstream 3, which outlines possible structural and programmatic realignments. Workstream 1 aims to achieve efficiencies and improvements. [UN80 Initiative]