media & analysis
Going for Broke: Time to Reform the UN Budget Process
John Norris & Joshua Wells • UN Reform • 8 April 2026
Much of the discussions around the UN budget has focused on understandably pressing concerns: across the board cuts at most UN agencies; the failure of the United States and a number of other nations to pay dues on time or in full: the sharp drop in voluntary contributions in development and humanitarian relief: and potential savings through the UN80 reform process. But all of this is to focus on the trees while failing to see the forest. John Norris and Joshua Wells make the case that the UN’s budgeting process – the ‘who pays what’ that funds the world’s most important multilateral body – is fundamentally broken and badly in need of a major overhaul to bring it into the modern era. They propose a dramatically different funding formula as a model to consider.
Going for Broke: Time to Reform the UN Budget Process
UN’s budgeting process – the ‘who pays what’ that funds the world’s most important multilateral body – is fundamentally broken. We propose a dramatically different funding formula as a model to consider.
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starling in the news & public
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Edith Lederer, The Associated Press, “4 vying to be the next UN chief try to set themselves apart as race heats up” quoting Minh-Thu Pham, April 26, 2026.
Sébastien Thibault, Foreign Policy Analytics. “A Q&A with Minh-Thu Pham”. Part of the Global Governance Reimagined series. October 15, 2025.
Lianhe Zaobao (Singapore), “International Special Report: After 80 years of carrying heavy burdens and reaching the brink of danger, can the United Nations still be the United Nations?” September 28, 2025, quoting Minh-Thu Pham. Language: Chinese.
The Economist, “The UN’s Grim Future,” September 18, 2025. Quoting Minh-Thu Pham; PDF here.
Interrupturr. “Cuts & Consequences”. Elmira Bayrasli. Interview with Minh-Thu Pham, July 1, 2025.
Devex, “US abandons Financing for Development conference” by Colum Lynch. Quoting Minh-Thu Pham. June 18 2025.
NPR’s This American Life. “Some Things We Don't Do Anymore”. Interview with John Norris. June 20 2025.
Devex, “What is Financing for Development 4 and why is it a big deal?”by Jesse Chase-Lubitz, quoting Minh-Thu Pham, May 30, 2025.
Helsingin Sanomat, “The Face of the New World? A woman from Latin America and the Caribbean is likely to be elected as the next UN Secretary-General,” by Tommi Hannula, interview with Minh-Thu Pham, December 29, 2024. Language: Finnish. (Translated here.)
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Arab News, “Erdogan’s COP26 retreat an environmental, democratic failure: Experts,” by Christopher Hamill-Stewart, November 2, 2021
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NBC Nightly News, “Vietnamese American refugees offer support to Afghans amid U.S. withdrawal,”interview of Minh-Thu Pham, August 23, 2021.
Politico, Birthday of the Day, featuring Minh-Thu Pham on U.S. General Election Day, November 3, 2020.Trump’s
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“UKICE Lunch Hour: Multilateralism in crisis”. Panel discussion with Minh-Thu Pham. December 9, 2025.
Remarks to a briefing of the Informal Ad Hoc Working Group on UN80.Minh-Thu Pham. October 13, 2025.
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