UN and IMF, OECD and IDB – reinventing international organisations in a changing world – from policy to platforms, guardians of order to catalysts of change

June 27, 2025

Walking into the Château de la Muette, the former Parisian residence of the Baron Henri de Rothschild, but now the headquarters of the OECD, I could feel the inertia. A temple to international policy, a haven for multinational interns. And a self-serving home to intellectual inaction.

For the last three years, I have been bringing together some of the senior leaders from many different international organisations – to help them rethink their purpose and direction, and how they as leaders can reinvent these institutions, and drive innovative actions for a different future.

International organisations were conceived in moments of post-war rebuilding and global optimism. Here are some of the bets known:

  • United Nations (UN) – peace, security, development, human rights.

  • World Trade Organization (WTO) – rules of global trade.

  • World Health Organization (WHO) – global health.

  • International Labour Organization (ILO) – labour rights and standards.

  • World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) – IP rights and innovation.

  • UNESCO – education, science, and culture.

  • UNICEF – children’s rights and humanitarian aid.

  • International Monetary Fund (IMF) – monetary stability, lending, economic policy.

  • World Bank Group (IBRD, IDA, IFC, MIGA) – development financing and poverty reduction.

  • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – economic policy, data, and best practices.

  • Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) – Latin America and the Caribbean.

  • Asian Development Bank (ADB) – Asia-Pacific.

  • African Development Bank (AfDB) – Africa.

  • European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) – transition economies of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Southern and Eastern Mediterranean.

  • Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) – development financing in member countries.

  • New Development Bank (NDB, or BRICS Bank) – founded by Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa.

  • Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) – infrastructure in Asia.

Their missions—peace, prosperity, development, and cooperation—were grounded in the assumption that globalisation would deepen, nations would collaborate, and shared challenges could be met through collective action.

But the world of the 2020s looks very different. Instead of convergence, we see fragmentation: trade blocs fracturing, great-power competition intensifying, regional conflicts spilling over borders, and nations prioritising short-term sovereignty over shared long-term solutions. Added to this are climate breakdown, biodiversity loss, widening inequality, migration pressures, cyber insecurity, and the disruptive march of new technologies like AI and biotechnology.

This creates a paradox. On the one hand, global challenges require stronger collaboration than ever. On the other hand, the political legitimacy and effectiveness of international organisations are under strain. To remain relevant—and indeed to fulfil their founding missions—such organisations must reinvent themselves.

Challenges of a changing world

1. Polarisation and nationalism.
Rising populism and political nationalism have made countries less willing to cede sovereignty or submit to international rules. The UN Security Council has become paralysed on key issues because of great-power rivalries. IMF reform to give more voice to emerging economies has stalled.

2. Legitimacy crisis.
Many international organisations are seen as elitist, slow-moving, or dominated by powerful states. Developing nations often argue that the governance of the IMF, World Bank, or OECD reflects outdated economic balances. Citizens in both North and South often see international bodies as “remote bureaucracies” detached from real impact.

3. Desk-bound inertia.
Despite their technical expertise, many organisations are trapped in a culture of reports, declarations, and frameworks. Policy papers pile up, but practical outcomes are scarce. The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), though visionary, risk becoming a checklist rather than a driver of tangible innovation.

4. Complexity of challenges.
Today’s crises are systemic, crossing borders and silos. Climate change interacts with migration; pandemics with supply chains; cybercrime with terrorism. Traditional organisational structures—sectoral, hierarchical, and nation-based—are ill-equipped to deal with such entangled realities.

Opportunities to innovate with impact

Yet within this turbulence lies opportunity. International organisations still command convening power, technical knowledge, financial resources, and global legitimacy that few other institutions can match. Reinvention would mean harnessing these assets differently—less as top-down authorities and more as enablers of collaborative, bottom-up action.

Some key opportunities:

  • From policy to platforms. Moving from publishing recommendations to building practical platforms where nations, entrepreneurs, and communities can co-create solutions.

  • From state-centric to multi-stakeholder. Broadening engagement beyond governments to include businesses, NGOs, cities, universities, and innovators.

  • From bureaucracy to agility. Adopting innovation mindsets, iterative experiments, and digital-first operations.

  • From guardians of order to catalysts of change. Seeing themselves less as defenders of the status quo, and more as laboratories for new forms of governance, finance, and collaboration.

Pathways to transformation

1. Addressing the SDGs in practical, innovative ways

The 17 SDGs provide a shared blueprint—but their implementation remains patchy. International organisations can reframe their role not as monitors of progress, but as enablers of scalable innovation. For example:

  • Climate action (SDG 13). The UN or ADB could incubate “climate venture studios” that partner with entrepreneurs to scale carbon capture, clean mobility, or regenerative agriculture.

  • Education (SDG 4). The OECD could create a global EdTech accelerator, linking policymakers with startups delivering AI-enabled personalised learning to underserved communities.

  • Health (SDG 3). IDB could support a cross-border digital health passport system, enabling continuity of care for migrants and refugees.

The principle is not more reports, but more pilots, prototypes, and proof points—building innovation portfolios across the SDGs.

2. Empowering entrepreneurs and local innovators

Economic growth and job creation are increasingly driven by entrepreneurs and small enterprises rather than state-led megaprojects. International organisations can reinvent their support models by:

  • Creating innovation sandboxes. IMF and World Bank could collaborate with regulators to create safe spaces for fintech, green finance, and inclusive banking to be tested across borders.

  • Financing ecosystems, not just projects. Instead of top-down loans, provide catalytic capital for venture funds, incubators, and networks that empower local startups.

  • Bridging knowledge gaps. OECD could democratise access to its world-class data and analysis, offering open APIs that entrepreneurs in Lagos or Lima can build on.

By becoming champions of entrepreneurship, these organisations align with the future of growth—distributed, digital, and bottom-up.

3. Building platforms for collective responses

International organisations are uniquely placed to create platforms for collaboration—shared infrastructures where governments, companies, and citizens can coordinate.

  • Digital platforms. Imagine a UN-backed climate risk marketplace where insurers, cities, and communities exchange data and solutions in real time.

  • Supply chain resilience hubs. ADB could convene Asia-Pacific economies and firms into regional platforms mapping supply chain risks and alternative sourcing.

  • Conflict mediation networks. UN could establish “peace tech” platforms where grassroots mediators, journalists, and civil society share early-warning data and conflict-resolution tools.

In an era of digital ecosystems, being a platform architect may be the most impactful role for global bodies.

4. Fostering understanding and collaboration

At their best, international organisations are “interpreters of complexity.” Yet in an age of misinformation, mistrust, and polarisation, their communication must be reinvented.

  • Radical transparency. Simplifying complex economic or climate data into visual, open dashboards accessible to all citizens, not just policymakers.

  • Narratives of shared progress. Shifting language from technocratic jargon to human stories—how an IMF-supported digital currency reform helps a mother send remittances, or how an IDB green bond finances a community forest.

  • Facilitating dialogues. Moving from grand annual conferences to ongoing, participatory online forums that connect mayors, scientists, activists, and entrepreneurs.

5. New mindsets and cultures

Perhaps the deepest reinvention is cultural. Most international organisations are still hierarchical, diplomatic, and risk-averse. Reinvention requires a new DNA:

  • Experimentation over perfection. Launching pilot projects quickly, learning, and scaling what works.

  • Collaboration over competition. Breaking silos between UN agencies or between IMF and regional development banks.

  • Diversity of voices. Ensuring young leaders, women, indigenous peoples, and entrepreneurs are not just consulted but integrated into decision-making.

  • Purpose-driven identity. Reconnecting to founding missions—peace, development, cooperation—but expressed in contemporary challenges like AI ethics or planetary health.

6. Reinventing business models and governance

Finally, international organisations must rethink their own structures. Many still rely on rigid voting systems and funding formulas from the mid-20th century. Options for reinvention include:

  • Polycentric governance. Creating flexible coalitions of willing actors within larger organisations—“mini-laterals” that move faster while still linked to global frameworks.

  • Outcome-based financing. Linking budgets not to inputs (how much spent) but to measurable outcomes (how many children educated, how much carbon reduced).

  • Crowdsourced legitimacy. Allowing citizens to engage directly, for example through participatory budgeting of development funds or citizen assemblies on global issues.

  • Partnership-driven models. Opening their doors to co-investment and co-creation with private sector, philanthropy, and civil society.

Such changes would not only improve effectiveness but rebuild legitimacy and trust.

Lessons from IO innovations

Some international organisations are already experimenting:

  • World Health Organization (WHO). During COVID-19, WHO partnered with tech firms to counter misinformation, moving beyond traditional medical guidance.

  • IDB Lab. The innovation arm of the IDB has begun acting like a venture investor, seeding startups tackling climate, inclusion, and digitalisation across Latin America.

  • OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation. A small but promising initiative that prototypes new governance methods and policy experiments.

  • UNDP Accelerator Labs. With over 90 labs worldwide, they use grassroots experimentation to tackle issues from plastic waste to renewable energy.

These show that reinvention is possible—but needs to be scaled and mainstreamed.

The IO reinvention imperative

In an age of fragmenting globalisation, climate emergency, and political polarisation, international organisations stand at a crossroads. They can either fade into irrelevance—ossified bureaucracies remembered for lofty declarations—or they can reinvent themselves as catalysts of practical action, inclusive collaboration, and transformative innovation.

The path forward is not easy. It demands humility from institutions long used to authority, flexibility in structures designed for stability, and courage to experiment when legitimacy is fragile. But the rewards are immense: renewed trust, real-world impact, and a chance to make global cooperation meaningful again.

In practical terms, reinvention means:

  • Shifting from policy inertia to practical action.

  • Moving from state-centric diplomacy to multi-stakeholder ecosystems.

  • Transforming from bureaucratic hierarchies to agile innovation cultures.

  • Redesigning from outdated governance models to polycentric, participatory, and outcome-based ones.

The world still needs global cooperation. Indeed, it needs it more than ever. But cooperation must look different: dynamic, inclusive, entrepreneurial, and adaptive. Reinvented international organisations could become the platforms where humanity confronts its crises together and designs its shared future.

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