To Build Trust, the UN Needs to Deliver on Peace and Security.

The 81st session of the UN General Assembly is taking place under the theme “Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation.” Opening the session on September 8th, the incoming president of the General Assembly, Khalilur Rahman, cited a “widening trust deficit” that is “testing confidence in international institutions and collective action.”

Concerns about trust in the UN are not new. At his swearing-in ceremony in 2016, António Guterres concluded his speech saying that his “contribution to the United Nations will be aimed at inspiring… trust.” Ten years later, the candidates to succeed him are again pledging to rebuild trust. Across their vision statements and interactive dialogues with the UN General Assembly, the eight current secretary-general candidates mentioned “trust,” “credibility,” “confidence,” and “legitimacy” nearly 400 times, including more than 100 times specifically in reference to the UN or the multilateral system.

But whose trust are they referring to? In many cases it seems to be the trust of member states. This makes sense; the UN needs to secure the trust of member states to function effectively and overcome its current financial crisis. As Ivonne A-Baki put it succinctly at her interactive dialogue, “When we have trust, money will flow.”

Yet there is also another kind of trust: the trust of the public. Rebeca Grynspan drew this distinction in her interactive dialogue, calling for a “double-fold strategy” to “rebuild trust in this organization” not only with the membership but also with “the populations and the global citizenship.” This source of trust may be less directly relevant to the UN’s immediate financial crisis, but it is critical to the organization’s longer-term legitimacy.