A group of former UN officials, fed up with the organization’s inefficiency, have launched an investigative effort called “DOGE-UN” to highlight waste by the world body. The effort is similar to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) launched by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, which aims to make the UN run more efficiently.
DOGE-UN’s goal is to culminate in a report online before the 2026 secretary-general selection, with the hope that the next leader will prioritize making the agency more effective. Hugh Dugan, a longtime member of the US delegation to the UN and former National Security Council adviser on international organizations, is leading the effort.
Dugan and his team are identifying areas where the UN is ineffective in its mission and where funds are being wasted. They plan to ask two questions: “Is the UN working?” and “Is it working for us?”
The UN has an Office of Internal Oversight Services, but it is internal, not independent, unlike the inspectors general for other government agencies. Dugan notes that there is no consequence for bad behavior, and that the UN’s oil-for-food program, where former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein siphoned off over $10 billion, is an example of this.
The UN was founded with a mission to promote global peace, development, and respect for human rights after World War II, and relies on the US for about a third of its budget. President Biden increased US financial contributions to the UN and its sister agencies from $11.6 billion in 2020 to $18.1 billion in 2022.
The US gave three times as much as the next-highest contributors, Germany and Japan, in 2022. This funding gives the next administration flexibility to withhold funds if its global interests do not align with those of the US.
The UN relies on the US for global aid programs, including the World Food Programme, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. Dugan’s report will also highlight ways to prevent China from “hijacking” the UN “deep state” to divert aid for its own Belt and Road Initiative. China has doubled the number of its nationals employed at the UN to nearly 15,000 from 2009 to 2021.