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The State of Change Management in the UN System
Change is the new status quo. Change management is no longer the exception, but it isn’t yet the rule. As a result, change management practitioners wear many change hats: they are strategists, managers, communicators, innovators, facilitators, trainers and coaches, researchers and much more.
In the United Nations and other international organizations, change management practitioners facilitate internal change to increase their organizations’ capacities to support Member States and help them progress faster towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But how do they do it?
Until now, we had little data on how the practice of change management in the UN is structured, resourced, implemented and monitored. We mostly had anecdotal evidence of how change management is perceived and supported. The challenges faced by UN change management practitioners and the practices they implement to overcome them were muted conversations within small circles of specialists.
The State of Change Management in the UN System addresses this information gap and is the first-ever comprehensive review of the change management practice across the UN.
This first edition in 2024 could not be timelier, given the UN 2.0 ambition and the level of internal evolution and growth it requires of all UN organizations.
We are thrilled that in July and August 2023, over 100 practitioners from 37 organizations answered UNSSC’s call to action in service to the UNLOCK Network and change management practitioners across the UN community. And that later in August 2023, the UNLOCK Network reviewed the aggregated data and shared their observations.
Keep scrolling to uncover the aggregated results from the survey, displayed by organization size and in some cases by certification status. Find out how data throughout the survey corroborate each other, weaving an intricate and robust tapestry of insights. For definitions of key terms used in the survey and the findings, consult the glossary and the list of acronyms.
Collecting, analyzing and publishing knowledge about how UN system organizations support UN reform and transformation is part of UNSSC’s mission and articulated through the UNLOCK project.
We believe regular stocktaking and publication of data on the practice of change management will inject evidence and insights that support its evolution as the cornerstone of change in the United Nations. Therefore, we plan to conduct the State of Change Management in the UN System survey every two years.
Join us on this journey! Help expand our reach by spreading the word to your change management colleagues in the UN and international organizations.
Sign up to receive notifications to participate in the 2025 edition of The State of Change Management in the UN System.
This digitally enabled solution amplifies our connection with and our service delivery to the UNLOCK Network, increases engagement with the larger UN change management community and provides information in formats that support better decision-making.
The State of Change Management in the UN System was made possible by the generous contribution of the Federal Government of Germany to the UNSSC UNLOCK project. The project was conceptualized and led by Lucy Braun.
The UNLOCK project at the UNSSC guides, empowers and connects change management professionals across the UN family. We support senior leaders, people and project managers to lead complex changes and supports UN entities in establishing change management as a standard practice.
We do so by offering capacity building and advisory services, knowledge management activities and network support.