PARIS – The United Nations teeters on the edge of financial collapse due to erratic payments from key donors, including top contributor the United States, and must sharply prioritize by doing “less with less,” declared Rebeca Grynspan, Costa Rica’s candidate for the next U.N. secretary-general.
In a joint interview with Reuters and Bloomberg on April 29, the 70-year-old economist, current head of the UN Conference on Trade and Development and former Costa Rican vice president, warned that payment uncertainties are paralyzing planning. “The financial sustainability of the U.N.’s budget is at stake,” she said while campaigning among UN Security Council nations in Paris.
Grynspan, whose parents fled Europe post-World War Two, urged the organization to refocus amid its diminished global clout, battered by great-power tensions and U.S. skepticism toward multilateralism. She rejected “doing more with less,” insisting: “We have to do less with less and focus more.” The U.N. should dive into conflict mediation despite rejections, collaborate with NGOs and private firms, and serve as an “enabler” rather than controlling every effort. “Not everything has to happen within the U.N.,” she emphasized.
Facing four rivals to replace Antonio Guterres next year, Grynspan addressed U.S. President Donald Trump’s barbs, quoting his General Assembly remark: “The U.N. has potential, but it’s not living up to the potential.” She advised ditching defensiveness in response to critics.
On whether the U.N. confronts an existential threat, Grynspan remained cautiously upbeat. “If it’s a life-or-death moment, I have my doubts,” she said. “Most of it comes from the conviction that the world is better with the U.N. than without it. I am running because I believe in the charter and the principles of the U.N.”