Since the establishment of the organization in 1946 there have been many proposals, studies, and discussions around the question of reform. This is still a hotly debated matter.
There are both political and legal aspects to the process of reform. Some proposals may require amendment of the Charter, while other measures may be taken by the organs without Charter amendment. Over the years, various subsidiary bodies have been charged with making proposals for reforms. There have also been groups outside of the UN institutional framework that have made proposals.
UN reform is a very broad topic. It may be best to limit your research to a particular aspect of reform or a particular time during the organization's history. As with most UN research, usually it is best to start with secondary sources and use these to identify relevant primary UN document sources.
The commentaries and reference works cited on the Research Resources page of this guide are an excellent starting point. The third edition of the Simma Commentary has a chapter on UN reform and the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law has an article on UN reform. Many other books and articles address this topic. Use the bibliographies of these reference works to identify additional sources for research.
A 2005 Joint Inspection Unit report, "Some measures to improve overall performance of the United Nations System at the country level : Part 1, Short history of United Nations reform in development" includes a list of some reform proposals since 1978 (A/60/125-E/2005/85) and refers to the books edited by Joachim Müller on Reforming the United Nations.
Key terms used in discussion of UN reform include:
Reform, revitalization, restructuring, equitable representation, strengthening, Agenda for .... (Agenda for Peace, Agenda for Development, etc.), capacity building, high level panel, governance, intergovernmental negotiations, summit, declaration, goals, Charter amendment, Charter revision, coherence, system-wide coherence, Delivering as One, shifting the management paradigm, repositioning, Agenda 2030, Our Common Agenda
Documentation pattern:
Since the conclusion of the work of the Trusteeship Council in 1994, there have been several proposals put forward regarding the reform of the Council and its mandate.