The plan does not introduce new proposals but sets out how the United Nations system intends to advance those already on the table: 87 actions, grouped into 31 work packages divided into 3 areas of work, ranging from peace operations and humanitarian response to technology, shared services and institutional mergers.

“Its objective is to provide structure, transparency and coherence as well as an operational framework to advance all aspects of the UN80 Initiative – and also to allow you to see how each element will move forward: who is responsible for what and on what timetable,” Ryder told Member States during an informal meeting of the General Assembly.

A plan to change the UN

The Action Plan is at the heart of the UN80 Initiative, a bold system-wide transformation to make the United Nations system work better – so that every dollar, decision and mandate delivers better results for people and the planet.

Launched in March 2025, and welcomed by the General Assembly in resolution 79/318The Initiative is not intended to redefine what the United Nations system does. The focus is on how it is structured, managed and coordinated: modernizing outdated arrangements, reducing bureaucracy, fragmentation and duplication, and enhancing impact.

The UN80 Initiative is progressing through three streams of work – all brought together in the Action Plan: proposals aimed at improving efficiency across the United Nations system, with initial proposals reflected in the revised estimates for the program budget proposed by the Secretariat for 2026; THE Report of the review of the execution of the mandatecurrently under study by the Member State-led committee Informal ad hoc working group; And “Shifting paradigms: United to deliver”, the Secretary-General’s report outlining potential structural and programmatic realignments.

The Action Plan brings these three streams of work under one roof, translating their recommendations into a clear structure that identifies responsibilities, deadlines and the intergovernmental bodies that will consider the proposals.

“If we maintain the momentum and approach this initiative in the right spirit, the coming months could be a time of real transformation,” Ryder told member states.

From three reports to 31 work packages

Concretely, the Action Plan is a road map. It takes the dense architecture of the UN80 Initiative and breaks it down into work packages, ranging from discrete technical changes to large-scale system changes.

Some of the biggest programs focus on what senior officials call the “big tickets” for a more cohesive United Nations system. On the peace and security side, this means new models for peace operations, including how tasks and resources are delegated to entities best placed to carry them out. In the humanitarian field, he is advancing the New Humanitarian Compact to simplify emergency response plans, integrate supply chains and expand common services so that every dollar can do more.

Another group of work focuses on how the UN development system is configured, including a “reset” of regional capacities and a reconfiguration of UN country teams that better combine expertise and cost-effectiveness.

The plan will also advance assessments of possible mergers between UNDP and UNOPS, and UNFPA And UN Womenand the way forward for UNAIDS.

Crucially, the Action Plan places emphasis on bringing together all the “operational tools” that underpin the daily work of the United Nations system: common data; shared technology platforms; unified services for supply chains and all other back-office functions; and a simpler approach to training and research.

Steering committee and working group at the center

A new Steering Committee, chaired monthly by the Secretary-General, will provide strategic direction and coherence among leaders across the United Nations system.

Within it, the UN80 working group, chaired by Mr Ryder, will meet weekly to coordinate implementation, monitor deadlines and prepare recommendations for consideration by the steering committee.

“As a basic principle, all actions will be undertaken in accordance with applicable rules and procedures, as set out in the Charter, as well as decisions, resolutions and established practices of relevant intergovernmental bodies,” recalled Mr. Ryder.

He noted that the Action Plan contains proposals under three different decision-making scenarios. The first scenario concerns proposals that fall under the authority of the Secretary-General. The second concerns proposals that require additional work, including potential mergers outlined in the Work Stream 3 report. The third scenario concerns proposals involving financial considerations related to the program budget and the peacekeeping operations budget and are submitted to the General Assembly for consideration and approval in accordance with standard procedures.

Not a cure for cash shortage – but part of the answer

This plan is being implemented at a time when the United Nations system continues to face severe funding cuts, with system resources estimated to fall by 25% (from $66 billion to $50 billion) in 2026 compared to 2024.

The Secretary-General has made it clear that the UN80 Initiative is not a solution to the financial crisis of the United Nations system but a commitment to protecting maximum impact, including in the most vulnerable contexts.

A public dashboard for a complex redesign

To help make sense of a reform that affects almost every aspect of the United Nations system, the Secretariat has launched an interactive site Dashboard of UN80 Initiative actions.

The online platform allows users to see, at a glance, each work package, its objectives and leadership, and its links to the three core reports. The dashboard will be expanded with a timeline and milestones and updated regularly as work progresses.

For an initiative whose success will ultimately be measured not by new documents but by its real-world impact, the Action Plan represents a turning point: moving from conception to a phase where progress, gaps and results will be tracked in one place.

The UN described it as one of the most horrific attacks in a new wave of violence by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed extremist rebel group.

Four wards housing patients were burned during the assault in Byambwe, an isolated community about 60 kilometers west of Lubero in the restive North Kivu province that has been gripped by fighting between a plethora of armed groups and national security forces for years.

Coordinated murders

The Byambwe killings were part of a series of coordinated attacks carried out between November 13 and 19 in several localities in Lubero territory.

According to information collected on the ground by United Nations human rights staff from MONUSCO peacekeeping mission, a total of 89 civilians were killed, including at least 20 women and an unknown number of children.

Other areas affected by violence include Mabiango, Tunarudi, Sambalysa, Thucha and Butsili, where abuses range from kidnappings and looting of medical supplies to burning of houses and destruction of property.

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said during Friday’s briefing in New York that “As we dug deeper and sent people out there, the information we received was truly horrific..”

The UN offered its condolences to the affected families and communities, stressing that attacks against civilians, particularly against medical facilities, can constitute war crimes and serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Solidarity with the victims

“We express our solidarity with all those affected,” Mr Dujarric said. “Violence against civilians, including targeting of medical facilities, may constitute war crimes.”

MONUSCO said it remains fully committed to help the Congolese authorities protect civilians, prevent further human rights violations and fight impunity.

The stabilization mission urged national authorities to quickly open independent and credible investigations to identify those responsible for the massacres and bring them to justice.

He also renewed his call on armed groups operating in the region to lay down their arms unconditionally.

Mr. Dujarric said that “too often,” massacres like those reported in Lubero “occur far from the eyes of journalists, far from the eyes of the international community.”

He appealed regional powers to cooperate and armed groups to disarm, “so that those responsible for these crimes which go beyond words” [can] be brought to justice.”

Who are the ADF?

The Allied Democratic Forces are an armed group of Ugandan origin that has operated in eastern DRC for decades.

Known for its brutal attacks on civilians, the ADF has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and is considered one of the deadliest non-state armed organizations in the region.

Women’s voices are rising with clarity and urgency, urging negotiators to ensure the conference leaves a lasting mark on the link between gender and climate policy.

At the heart of the discussions is Belém Gender Action Plan – a proposed plan that recognizes that climate change hits women harder and sets out measures for funding, training and leadership roles.

“Climate justice only exists when gender equality also exists,” says Ana Carolina Querino, Acting Representative of UN Women in Brazil, echoing a feeling heard in the rooms and on site since the opening of the summit last Monday, November 10.

If adopted, the plan would extend from 2026 to 2034, integrating gender-responsive approaches to just transitions, adaptation and mitigation strategies, as well as loss and damage mechanisms.

Waste pickers on the front line in reducing emissions

On the streets of São Paulo, Nanci Darcolete has been a waste picker since 1999.

Today, she runs Pimp My Carroça, an organization that fights for the rights of workers who turn discarded materials into resources, preventing mountains of waste from being thrown away or burned.

Waste pickers, she said, played a historic role at COP30 in showing how their work was reducing emissions and easing pressure on natural resources.

“We now understand how important it is for waste pickers to also work on composting organic waste,” she explains. “This will save municipalities money, provide income for harvesters and capture tons and tons of gas. [and] provide major mitigation by removing heavy pollutants from the environment.

Women at the head of the recycling chain

In Brazil, women make up most waste pickers and run most cooperatives. Yet they still face racism and gender-based violence on the streets, often while juggling caring for their homes and families.

For Nanci, climate change is making their work more difficult. Rising heat and flooding have hit low-income neighborhoods harder, adding strain to already difficult conditions. She wants the COP30 adaptation program to recognize waste pickers as “agents of transformation”, with better urban logistics, hydration points and paid contracts.

Litigation as a weapon for climate justice

Across the Atlantic, Portuguese lawyer Mariana Gomes, 24, uses law as what she calls “the most important tool” to fight the climate crisis. She founded Último Recurso, the group behind Portugal’s first climate litigation – which now leads more than 170 cases.

Mariana believes that litigation can turn promises into binding actions, especially after the International Court of Justice(ICJ) recent notice oblige States to act to keep global warming below 1.5°C.

“I think in the future we will see a lot of lawsuits against states, especially those that need to raise their ambitions, pass climate laws and align their goals with the targets set. Paris Agreement. Because now more than ever, we carry the weight of the International Court of Justice on our shoulders,” she told us.

The right to a clean and healthy environment

Mariana argues that citizens can demand that their governments guarantee the right to a clean and healthy environment and a stable climate. In Portugal, she advocates for municipal climate action plans to help local authorities prepare for droughts, wildfires, floods and other disasters.

For her, adaptation and mitigation must recognize that climate disasters hit women harder, increasing the risks of gender-based violence, displacement and care burdens. Litigation, she says, can do more than reduce emissions or stop extractive projects, it can unlock funding and compensation for affected communities, protecting women’s rights.

UN NewsEastreport from Belémgiving you front row coverage of everything happening at COP30.

“Now is the time for leadership and vision,” the UN Secretary-General António Guterres told reporters in Johannesburg on Friday, a day before the official opening.

The G20 bloc is made up of the world’s largest economies, although the United States has announced it will not officially participate.

This year’s summit highlights the need for climate adaptation and sustainable financing, under the theme “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability”.

The UN chief is attending the summit to promote economic and climate action, as well as to end the spiral of conflict around the world.

“Unfortunately underrepresented”

Developing countries, particularly in Africa, suffer from shrinking fiscal space, a crushing debt burden and a failing global financial architecture, Guterres said.

He lamented that after decades of colonial rule, the continent remains “woefully underrepresented” in global institutions.

“The G20 can help right this historic injustice and drive reforms that give developing countries – and Africa in particular – a real voice in global policymaking.and make global economic governance more inclusive, representative, equitable and effective in the years to come,” he said.

Economic action

Mr. Guterres called on the G20 to respect the commitments made in June during the Conference on financing for development in Sevillewhere countries promised to unlock more financing to stimulate sustainable growth.

This would involve tripling the lending power of multilateral development banks, reducing borrowing costs and allowing developing countries to mobilize their domestic resources.

Climate action

Countries have failed to keep temperatures at the 1.5 degree Celsius limit, Mr Guterres warned.

“To avoid further climate chaos, the adaptation gap must be closed – urgently» and this requires an increase in funding, namely doubling adaptation funding to at least $40 billion this year.

He added that even though 90% of new electricity capacity comes from renewable energy and global investment in clean energy reached $2 trillion last year, only a negligible proportion went to Africa.

“Africa should be at the heart of this clean energy revolution“, he insisted.

Action for peace

Listing some of the world’s most devastating conflicts, including in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine and Gaza, Guterres called on G20 members to use their influence to end the fighting.

“Everywhere – from Haiti to Yemen to Myanmar and beyond – we must choose a peace anchored in international law“, he concluded.

“Sexual violence accounted for just over half of the cases (around 3,700) and almost two-thirds of them involved gang rape (around 2,500),” he added.

Alarming levels of GBV persist in Haiti, but survivors and those at risk face very limited access to essential support due to insecurity, logistical challenges and funding gaps, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) has warned.OCHA).

Financing gaps

Due to budget cuts, the UN and its partners were only able to reach seven percent of the 833,000 people they aimed to help, Dujarric reported.

The response remains seriously underfunded, with an overall shortfall of $13.5 million, or 70 percent of the more than $19 million needed for this year.

Despite these constraints, between January and February, the UN and its partners scaled up vital services, reaching those most affected, through more than 32,000 awareness sessions. Around 560 frontline workers also received training.

WHO warns of lack of support for survivors

Many girls and women who survive gender-based violence around the world are disappointed when they seek medical help – often because systems are not in place to provide them with what they need – the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday.

In a new report from the European office of the United Nations agency, it is indicated that almost three in ten women and girls over the age of 15 will be victims of physical and/or sexual abuse in the region.

Health services “are often the first – and only – point of contact for survivors”, and yet essential support is not provided, particularly post-rape services and access to safe abortion, which are urgently needed, maintains WHO.

According to data from 53 European countries, only seven offer safe abortion services, the agency found.

Policies in place are essential

WHO’s Melanie Hyde said that when looking at the different needs of sexual assault survivors, only 40 percent of member states in the European region have these provisions at the policy level: “What we’re seeing is that if it’s not in the policy, then it’s not going to be at the front line. »

The WHO describes this as a public health crisis that has a significant negative impact on individuals in terms of mental and physical health, but also on families and society.

Youth Activist Summit celebrates hope over hate and ‘humanity over hostility’

Finally, some welcome the good news from Thursday’s youth summit in Geneva, where activists shared their positive stories of change, which have helped tens of thousands of people around the world.

Among the inspiring figures at this year’s Youth Activist Summit was Marina El Khawand, who created a global platform for surplus medicines from scratch.

She made the decision following the deadly Beirut port explosion in 2020, when she struggled to find prescription medication for an elderly survivor who needed it to breathe properly.

Good Samaritan

Marina’s lightbulb moment came after she searched several pharmacies without success, before asking for help on her social media account.

Within hours, a stranger donated 12 boxes and it didn’t take long for her online platform – Medonations – to spring up, she said. UN News:

“The moment I took the first box of the 12 boxes that I hold in my hand, she cries because she saw her basic right to health, which is her medicine. It is the only thing that can keep her alive and make her breathe like it is the happiest and saddest moment.”

Young people lead change

Marina shared her story at the summit with four other young activists from Brazil, Ivory Coast, India and Japan, each with their own solutions for driving global change.

Representing the UN, communications chief Melissa Fleming urged the young audience and everyone online to turn the noise and negativity of social media into action, creativity and hope.

“Movements don’t start with institutions, they start with individuals,” she said, before encouraging everyone to register their actions on the UN Act Now campaign app, as 28 million people around the world have already done.

THE Security Council is holding a rare open briefing on Ukraine after days of deadly Russian attacks on civilian areas and amid a renewed U.S. mission to kyiv seeking a peace deal. As attacks on energy infrastructure increase and the number of civilian casualties increases, Council members demanded answers and action. Can the Council increase pressure on veto-wielding Moscow, provide better protection and aid to civilians, and work toward an elusive ceasefire? Follow live below, find full coverage of UN meetings here; UN News app users you can click here.