Italian Statement to the ExBoard Announces Expansion of Innocenti and new center in Rome

Fragmentation of UN headquarter functions

Ronny  Patz  

Linkedin 11 February 2026

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One of the weirdest developments of UN80 is the increasing fragmentation of  headquarter functions, including to Germany, Italy, or Spain. At yesterday's  board meeting, Italy reminded everyone that not only are functions moved to Italy, but to two different cities, increasing even within-country fragmentation.

We saw last year what happens when agencies like IOM move functions to Germany (Berlin), and when funding dries up, offices are quietly closed down. I wrote about this last year: https://lnkd.in/dU3nqXfJ

I don't want to argue against relocations per se, but there has never been an honest discussions about how the HQ functions of the entire system should look like, and whether centralization or decentralization are actually useful. So everything happens by competition now, not by cooperation, which is the opposite of what UN proponents talk about.

Statement of Italy to the UNICEF Executive Board

Your Excellency Ambassador Rein Tammsaar, President of the Executive Board, 10 February 2026

Your Excellency Catherine Russell, Executive Director,

We start this 2026 conscious that it shall be a year of reform across the UN system, to adapt to a changed political and financial landscape. UNICEF has demonstrated his willingness to tackle this challenge proactively, engaging constructively with the UN80 process and launching its own “Future Focus Initiative”.

Italy, as an observer State to this year’s board, shares this view directed at the future.

As a long-standing partner of UNICEF, we have consistently supported the agency throughout the years, as confirmed last December by the announcement of an additional 10 million euros grant to the Agency for Child Protection and Education Services in Learning Centres in the Gaza Strip.

Our relationship is rooted in concrete synergies in projects’ implementation, as well as shared strategic priorities for the protection of children worldwide.

It is a synergy which spans beyond the excellent relationship between UNICEF and our government, but also involves the many Italian nationals working inside the organization, as well as the active engagement of Italian civil society and private sector through activism and funding.Your Excellency,

We are now on the verge of further increasing our cooperation by expanding our role as Host Country, with the prospected enlargement of the Florence Innocenti office and the establishment of a new, important UNICEF center in Rome.

Italy will do its best to facilitate the relocation of staff within its national borders and to provide the necessary legal, institutional and operational ground to allow UNICEF to operate in full synergy with pre-existing agencies in Rome, in line with the spirit of the UN80 initiative.



Your Excellency,

We stand ready to continue working with UNICEF and the members of its Executive Board to further strengthen our cooperation to the benefit of millions of children worldwide.

Thank you.