She stressed that the goal must be “to overcome blockades” and make the organization more efficient — such as by merging agencies, increasing local staffing and using AI.
“There is such financial pressure on this organization that it’s become clear we must ask more urgently what the U.N.’s core areas really are,” Baerbock added.
As for who will succeed Secretary-General António Guterres, Baerbock proposed that a woman lead the U.N. An organization committed to women’s and human rights “has not managed to have a woman at its helm in 80 years,” she noted, which is “no longer appropriate.”
On the role of the U.S. in the organization, Baerbock said she still sees strong and important support for multilateralism despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s forceful America First agenda.
It is crucial, she added, that major powers take responsibility and “do not call the Charter into question.” The U.N. remains “the place where controversies must be addressed” and “solutions developed.”