The current so-called multilateral crisis, and the following UN80 restructuring plan for the United Nations, represent material manifestations of issues in the international community that the Global Majority has long been calling out; that being colonial legacies and who yields influence through funding limiting the potential for fields of peace, security, and development to properly provide the services to the groups they claim to support. Through investigating historical financial crises in the UN, alongside formational background and internal structural analysis, this Policy Brief provides an unique angle with which UN80 is critiqued. 

Despite the evolution of membership and representation within the UN made significant progress through the period of decolonization, new members were still joining into an organization whose funding architecture was decided without equal representation– and this funding architecture is yet to be fully reformed. Previous turbulent times in funding have additionally led to similar points and critiques about the relationship between funding and power, money and influence, at the UN without significant reform being realized. 

Therefore, this policy brief proposes that despite the financial stress of the current crisis facing the international community, this moment offers a unique positionality for those involved in reform and evolution of peace and security. This work echoes important points put forward by advocates for continued and active decolonization in the international community. 

To achieve this active effort towards decolonization, primarily in regards to financial control and representation in decision-making, the recommendations of this brief revolve around ensuring that decisions are made with proper, inclusive, and non-performative inclusion. The work ends with a crucial call to action: adoption of improved justice, reducing bureaucratic barriers to peacebuilding and humanitarian funding, as well as ensuring that a seat at the table is joined with the chance to be legitimately heard.