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Former United Nations representatives discussed challenges the U.N. faces before its 80th session at a Monday afternoon panel hosted by Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

The panel, moderated by Maxwell professor Lionel Johnson, aimed to examine achievements, challenges and prospects the U.N. currently faces and has experienced throughout history, including funding and leadership.

In September, the U.N. announced the theme of its next session as “Better Together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights,” but faced criticism for its struggles to maintain global peace.

The panel featured three speakers, each bringing distinct experience from their work with the U.N.:

• Catherine Bertini, former executive director of the U.N. World Food Programme
• John Mathiason, former deputy director of the U.N. Division for the Advancement of Women
• Lamin J. Sise, former senior advisor to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan

The U.N.’s funding crisis was a consistent theme across the panel’s discussion. Funding remains a persistent challenge for the U.N., one the panelists said is likely to continue into the future and will become more prominent due to changing political landscapes.

Bertini said changes to the political landscape and rhetoric have affected how the U.N. funds certain programs, specifically referencing how the term “gender” has changed. She also addressed how it’s impacted the World Food Programme’s funding, which aims to end world hunger and promote sustainable agriculture.

“Gender is so important to feeding people because in most places around the world, there’s a woman somewhere preparing food,” Bertini said. “But in Washington in 2026, gender means something different than in 1995.”

Changing rhetoric, like gender becoming a controversial topic in politics, caused the conversation around it to completely shift, Bertini added.

Mathiason spoke about how the complexity of the U.N.’s funding process previously caused issues, and that more funding problems could emerge in the future. Many countries that carried a large portion of the U.N.’s financial burden are no longer willing to do so.

“It’s (dues) are based on equality, The U.S. pays 22% because the percentage is based on GDP
per capita. Now the U.S. is not willing to do that,” Mathiason said.

This shift reflects a broader reluctance among member states to shoulder the organization’s financial burden, Mathiason added.

The panelists also discussed the idea of “political will” — the momentum needed for political entities to take action, something the U.N. faced due to the constantly changing political landscape. When speaking on the U.N.’s shortcomings for providing humanitarian aid, Bertini referenced a refugee camp in Bangladesh that has yet to send refugees home and recently reduced rations.

“The long-standing issue has been political will at the top levels of politics,” Bertini said. “If we had more interest in addressing issues of security, hunger and safety, then we would be better off, but we haven’t had that in years.”

That issue boils down to people in power deciding when they’re going to act, Bertini said.

Whoever is elected as secretary general at the end of 2026 could play a major part in how the U.N. deals with the challenge, Johnson said.

“Provisions for selecting the secretary general are scant,” Sise said. “There are no provisions about methods of selecting the general.”

Bertini also addressed credibility and financial issues that the next secretary general will inherit, such as defaulting dues payments from member countries. She also discussed the qualities she hopes the new candidate has, which could affect the U.N. as a whole.

“I think the secretary general has to be a woman of all talents, because she’s going to inherit a mess,” Bertini said. “I think she has to work with each of the different entities to try and find ways to strengthen themselves.”

Published on April 14, 2026 at 12:50 am
Contact Ryan: rcgaripo@syr.edu