UN said to be stalling reforms in hopes Democrats flip House in midterm elections

While the United Nations through its UN Task Force continues a public-facing attempt to slash its budget to manage a decline in external contributions and in recognition of overlapping mandates and duplicated efforts a U N diplomatic source tells Fox News Digital that the effort is an attempt to keep a mammoth organization untouched until midterm elections The source explained that the zero-growth budget proposed for has already been prepared and that talk about how we re going to get it leaner is only intended to take President Trump for a sucker The source commented that the U N believes that the budget will tide the U N over until the House flips to Democratic control and Trump will no longer be able to inflict damages to the U N The source claimed the effort is the brain child of the U N Foundation something the group refuted We have never proposed linking U N budgetary deliberations to the U S mid-term elections a spokesperson from the U N Foundation advised Fox News Digital WATCHDOG ORG CALLS FOR SANCTIONS AGAINST UN APPOINTEE ACCUSED OF ANTISEMITISM The U N Foundation is an independent organization separate from the U N itself We are not involved in the U N s budget process which is decided by the U N General Assembly We also share a widely held view that there is scope for efficiencies and innovations to strengthen delivery of the U N 's lifesaving work the spokesperson added Fox News Digital viewed internal documents which show efforts by various U N entities to direct cost-cutting measures The source says certain show the disingenuous nature of the effort A UN memo from the U N Resident Coordinators in Africa from April discusses how previous reforms have failed It explains that they did not fully address incentives for collaboration which left U N entities to too often prioritize their corporate obligations over system-wide coherence Coordination the memo reads is too easily viewed as additional work rather than a core responsibility and funding competition further compounds these issues UN GLOBAL COMMS ARM UNDER FIRE FOR ANTI-ISRAEL BIAS AS CRITICS CALL FOR REFORMSWhile the memo identifies two options for reorganization it notes that implementing such ambitious structural reforms especially Option will require a medium-term phased approach over a - year horizon and notes that Option is not likely to be viable if no structural changes are made to headquarters level entities The U N source says the memo shows the inability of the U N to revision itself Another memo from the office of the Secretary-General sent on April directs Secretariat entities to perform a functional review for cost reductions and efficiencies Among the directions provided is that personnel identify which functions could be relocated including at a minimum the functions organizational units post numbers and grade levels proposed for relocation Numbers were to be sent to the Office of the Controller by May noting that the tight deadline is in line with the very limited timeframe the U N has to prepare and submit the revised estimates through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions ACABQ so they might be considered within the overall context of the proposed programme budget for Fox News Digital s source called foul on the earnestness of the endeavor This Secretary-General has to deal with bodies that even though they are called the United Nations they do not depend on him they explained The document does not represent any value legally because none of their boards have committed nor listened or reviewed the order REPUBLICANS SEEK TO BLOCK THE REAPPOINTMENT OF UN OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF ANTISEMITISMFox News Digital solicited Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spokesperson Stephane Dujarric whether Guterres could expect organizations with independent boards to enforce changes like those addressed in his memo We do not take such a pessimistic view The Secretary-General and the heads of the U N Funds and Programmes will act in areas under their authority while of program keeping the governing bodies informed Dujarric noted Before the deadline for responses came due Guterres delivered a May briefing admitting that the proposal for the budget was already given to ACABQ particular time ago and it will be impossible to change it at the present moment While Guterres mentioned he would present revised proposals in September in time for budget approvals he explained that changes that require more detailed analysis will be presented in the proposal for the budget Fox News Digital s source says the admission is proof that this whole attempt is a lie to appease the Americans so they don t go harsh enough and cut anything right now On May Guterres addressed a letter to all U N staff about the need for bold transformative thinking and extensive reforms to bring the U N out of its liquidity situation While expressing gratitude for employees extraordinary dedication expertise and creativity he warned that leaks and rumours may create unnecessary anxiety Guterres commented that it will be inevitable that we cannot leave all posts untouched After over three decades of working for the U N the source says they have seen the U N attempt to change itself at least five times Instead they explained that the U N only got a larger footprint They explained that other insiders are fed up that the organization is not changing You have a super state that basically controls itself the source explained And you should also trust them to reorganize themselves they questioned Whether the U N could hold out for promised change is unknown The Economist communicated in May that due to nonpayment of fees the U N may run out of funds to pay its suppliers and employees by the General Assembly in September