Strategic review of UNIDIR with recommendations for its sustainable and stable future.

UNOG is seeking Expressions of Interests from companies able to conduct in depth reviews and provide high level guidance on the financial structure and operating model of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and to make proposals and recommendations on how to ensure a sustainable and stable future for UNIDIR. In December 2015, the United Nations General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to commission an assessment by an independent third party with a mandate to prepare a report on the future structural, financial, administrative and operational aspects of UNIDIR, outlining a sustainable and stable funding structure and operating model as required to achieve the mandate and objectives of the Institute beyond the biennium 2018–2019. Taking into account this assessment, the Secretary-General was also requested to report in this regard to the General Assembly at its seventy-third session in the fall of 2018. The purpose of the assessment is therefore to make proposals and recommendations on how to ensure a sustainable and stable future for UNIDIR. Importantly, these proposals must ensure that UNIDIR will be able to fulfil its mandate, as approved by the United Nations General Assembly as part of the Institute’s Statute, which is available on UNIDIR website at www.unidir.org The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) is an autonomous institute within the United Nations dedicated to independent, policy-relevant disarmament and security analysis. It is funded primarily by voluntary contributions, receiving only a small subvention from the regular (programme) budget of the UN. Over the years, the real value of the subvention has shrunk and at the same time voluntary contributions have been increasingly earmarked to projects. This makes it a real challenge for UNIDIR to fund the institutional framework required for implementation of its project activities in conformity with United Nations rules and procedures. Operating a research institute within the UN entails high operating costs —simply to comply with the Organization’s financial, human resources and other rules, regulations and requirements.