Vote on the UN General Assembly resolution concerning the UN80 Initiative (workstream 2 on UN mandates)

On 31 March 2026, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) voted on a resolution in the context of the UN80 reform Initiative. Launched in March 2025, the initiative aims at improving the UN’s efficiency and impact, thereby reaffirming the value of multilateralism at a time when it is under enormous strain. The UN 80 Initiative consists of three workstreams. The first focuses on improving internal efficiency in the UN Secretariat which has resulted in deep budget cuts and a staff reduction of nearly 19 per cent over the past year. The second deals with the review of around 40,000 mandates that Member States have created since 1946 in search of duplication, overlap or redundancies. The third one discusses more than 80 proposals for structural reform of the UN architecture at large. The resolution that was adopted on 31 March is the main outcome document of workstream 2 on mandate review. It lays out principles for a more structured approach across the lifecycle of UN mandates, from their creation, over their implementation to their review. It further asks the Secretary General to establish digital tools that would assist Member States in doing so and creates a formal Ad Hoc Working Group on Mandate Implementation Review. A large majority of 168 states voted in favour, only 4 against (Belarus, Honduras, North Korea and Russia) with 21 abstaining after Russia had called for a vote.