United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has announced that he has invited his Special Adviser on Reforms, Jens Wandel of Denmark, to also act as an Adviser on the UN80 Initiative, reporting through Under-Secretary-General for Policy, Guy Ryder, to the Secretary-General. This will ensure complementarity between the ongoing reform streams and the UN80 Initiative.
Internal review
Earlier, in February 2025, the Secretary-General had tasked Special Adviser Wandel with delivering an internal review of the progress made and remaining gaps implementing the reforms. Working within and across all three reform streams (Sustainable Development, Peace & Security and Management), the Special Adviser was tasked to work on deepening the impact of the three reforms, including by recommendations to the Secretary-General for the key departments, the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, and the United Nations High-level Committee on Management.
Experience
Mr. Wandel has had a distinguished service within the United Nations. He served as the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Executive Director (ad interim), the Secretary-General’s Designate for the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Assistant Administrator, Director of the Bureau of Management.
He also held various positions at the country level, including as Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Turkmenistan and other UNDP positions in Kyrgyzstan and Viet Nam. He brings a wide range of experience across operational, programmatic and policy matters, which is critical for implementing the key outstanding elements of the reforms.
Mr. Wandel holds a Master of Arts equivalent in political science (development and public management) from the University of Aarhus, Denmark. He is fluent in English and Danish.
