UN has not met full potential owing to bureaucracy: Donald Trump at his first General Assembly speech

Delivering his first speech at the UN in New York, he said: "Focus more on people, less on bureaucracy."

“In recent years, the United Nations has not reached its full potential because of bureaucracy and mismanagement,” said Trump on whom all eyes were trained.

“We encourage the secretary general to fully use his authority to cut through the bureaucracy, reform outdated systems, and make firm decisions to advance the UN’s core mission.”

Trump, who had flayed the UN during his presidential campaign, however, praised the UN saying: “The United Nations was founded on truly noble goals.......United Nations has helped advance these goals in so many ways: feeding the hungry, providing disaster relief, and empowering women and girls in many societies all across the world.”

Trump said the United States would "pledge to be partners in your [UN's} work" in order to make the UN "a more effective force" for peace across the globe.

Pledging to overhaul the United Nations bureaucracy to make the world body stronger and more responsive to the people it serves, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday launched a pledge of support for reforms that has the backing of 128 countries.

Guterres said someone recently asked him what kept him awake at night – bureaucracy, was the simple answer. “ Fragmented structures. Byzantine procedures. Endless red tape,” he added.

“To serve the people we support and the people who support us, we must be nimble and effective, flexible and efficient,” he stated.

The 10-point Declaration for support for UN reforms aims to simplify procedures and decentralize decisions, with greater transparency, efficiency and accountability, according to Guterres.

In recent months, the UN embarked on plans to achieve gender parity among the Organization's middle and senior-management positions, and is working to reorganize the peace and security sections so they are refocused on prevention and mediation.

The UN has also prioritized ending sexual exploitation and abuse. At a high-level meeting scheduled for on Monday, the UN is due to announce a 'Circle of Leadership' which will include Heads of State and Government committed to ending impunity and strengthening measures to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse in peacekeeping and political mission, among other international deployments.

In his speech on Monday, Guterres also noted reforms to the UN's development system, to become more coordinated, focused on the people and more accountable to better assist countries along the 17 priorities in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

These aims, Guterres said, will be measured through “tangible results in the lives of the people we serve” and in “the trust of those who support our work through their hard-earned resources.”

The UN chief quoted President Trump who he said on multiple occasions noted that “the UN has tremendous potential.”

“All of us have a responsibility to make sure we live up to it,” Guterres said.

UN Photo/Mark Garten