ABSTRACT
Because of the lack of political consensus and collective motivation on the part of governments, the UN system as a whole has not been subjected to a comprehensive multilateral review and even less so to a systemic restructuring exercise. However, while on the surface things may appear static because of the lack of agreement among states and the absence of a blueprint for reform, the quest for a reform has been a continuing one, for the most part in the economic and social sphere, and the system has been undergoing incremental change and adaptation, including that given rise to by unilateral initiatives and actions of the major developed countries, within the UN and elsewhere.
