The finding comes from the UN80 Initiative Mandate Implementation Review, a comprehensive system-wide stocktake released ahead of the UN's 80th anniversary.
According to the report, of the more than 1,100 reports produced by the UN Secretariat in 2024, nearly 65 percent were downloaded fewer than 2,000 times. One in ten reports had fewer than 1,000 downloads. Only the top five percent of reports were accessed more than 5,500 times, suggesting a wide disparity between the effort invested in report production and actual reader engagement.
"Download statistics alone are not proof of a report's utility: important issues may not always find wide public leadership. But these figures are indication of a need for wider discussions when considering reports," the report notes.
The United Nations Secretariat spent more than $360 million in 2024 on direct documentation services such as editing and translation, amounting to more than 10 percent of the organisation's Regular Budget. When indirect costs such as research, drafting, clearance, and publication are included, the financial and time burden becomes even more significant.
Founded in the aftermath of World War II by the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and China, the United Nations was created to prevent future wars and foster international cooperation. With just 51 founding members in 1945, the organisation has since grown to include 193 member states and is mandated to promote peace and security, development, and human rights across the globe.
Reports are an essential part of mandate delivery, providing information and analysis that guide the work of the General Assembly, Security Council, and Economic and Social Council. However, the internal review found that the volume and length of reports have ballooned over the past two decades.
In 2024, the average UN report contained over 11,000 wordsâ€"40 percent longer than in 2005 and far above recommended limits. The report notes that this growth in length, combined with the rising number of mandates requiring regular reporting, has created an unsustainable information burden.
Moreover, many reports duplicate content across different UN bodies. For instance, recurring topics are often addressed separately for the General Assembly, ECOSOC, and the Human Rights Council, with limited coordination or content sharing. While meetings and reports remain critical to advancing the UN's mission, the review warns that unchecked growth in both has diluted their value and diverted resources from on-the-ground action.
To address these challenges, the report proposes a set of reforms aimed at making reporting more impactful and manageable. These include streamlining requests for reports within mandates, reducing word counts, and combining similar reports into unified submissions where appropriate.
The report also recommends exploring new formats such as short updates, visual dashboards, and in-person briefings to better serve Member States' decision-making needs. Additionally, the UN is encouraged to publish download statistics for all reports to promote greater accountability and help identify underused content.
The report is part of a broader push under the UN80 Initiative to enhance the relevance, agility, and accountability of the UN system. With five years remaining to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and growing pressure on international institutions to deliver measurable outcomes, Member States are calling for smarter and more strategic approaches to how mandates are created, delivered, and reviewed.
While the review does not single out specific bodies or member states, it points to a critical need to align administrative output with real-world results.
Some of the reports produced by the body have sparked criticism from various leaders over the years.
For instance, President Kagame has been critical of certain UN reports, particularly those from the UN Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He has accused them of presenting a biased narrative that places blame on Rwanda while ignoring the role of the FDLR militia, a group composed of perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. He has also stated that such reports hinder genuine solutions to the conflict in eastern DRC between the AFC/M23 rebel group and the Kinshasa administration.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking during a meeting with Secretary-General António Guterres at a BRICS summit last year, emphasised the need for UN reform to keep pace with global changes and to ensure greater representation for developing nations.
Wycliffe Nyamasege
Source : https://en.igihe.com/news/article/most-un-reports-go-largely-unread-internal-review-finds
