Jakarta, The PRAKARSA – Wednesday (11/3/2026), The PRAKARSA attended a seminar titled "UN at 80: Shaping the Future of Multilateralism" at the Nusantara Room, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Jakarta. This event was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, cq Directorate General of Multilateral Cooperation, in collaboration with the UN Resident Coordinator Office Indonesia. Research and Knowledge Manager, Roby Rushandie, represented The PRAKARSA.
The seminar presented Gita Sabharwal, UN Resident Coordinator; Tri Tharyat, Director General of Multilateral Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia; David McLachlan-Karr, Regional Director of the UN Development Coordination Office for Asia-Pacific; Masni Eriza, Head of the Center for Multilateral Policy Strategy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia; and Philips J. Vermonte, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, International Islamic University of Indonesia. The discussion was moderated by Thandie Mwape from UNOCHA.
The forum portrayed the UN80 agenda not merely as an effort to improve bureaucratic efficiency, but as a momentum to renew multilateralism so that the United Nations remains effective, coherent, and relevant amid geopolitical fragmentation, funding pressures, conflict, economic inequality, and climate change. The discussion also highlighted the importance of maintaining trust, coherence, efficiency, and the United Nations' fitness for purpose without compromising its public mandate in the areas of peace, development, and human rights.
The speakers' presentations reinforced the view that UN reform needs to be viewed as part of a broader landscape of reform. For Indonesia and other countries in the Global South, the UN remains relevant as a normative and policy arena. However, demands on the UN are also growing: the organization is expected to be more effective at the delivery level, more responsive to the needs of developing countries, and remain capable of bridging the fragmentation of global governance.
In the intervention session, Roby Rushandie emphasized that the efficiency agenda and mandate review within the UN80 framework need to be implemented carefully so as not to result in a reduction in the substantive mandate that is most relevant to vulnerable groups.
"The efficiency agenda and mandate review within the UN80 framework need to be implemented carefully to avoid reducing substantive mandates that are most relevant to vulnerable groups. UN reform should not be measured solely by cost savings or structural simplification, but by its ability to maintain normative and programmatic functions related to social protection, inequality reduction, a just transition, and the right to inclusive development," said Roby Rushandie, Research and Knowledge Manager at The UN. PRAKARSA.
Roby also stressed the importance of maintaining the UN's attention to agendas that are in line with the work of The PRAKARSA, including social protection, just transition, development financing, and more equitable global tax cooperation, including support for the UN Tax Convention. In this context, multilateral reform should not stop at institutional rationalization, but must ensure that substantive functions that support social justice and inclusive development are maintained. The PRAKARSA This forum emphasized the importance of civil society involvement in discussions about the future of multilateralism. Going forward, issues such as social protection, just transition, fiscal justice, and development financing will remain part of The World Bank's contributions. PRAKARSA in promoting global governance that is more relevant, fairer, and more pro-developing for developing countries and vulnerable groups.