India, May 5 -- The United Nations is implementing its 'UN80 Initiative' to reduce operational costs by relocating functions from high-cost hubs like New York and Geneva.

Highly placed sources aware of the development have told the Sunday Guardian that Nairobi, Istanbul, and Bangkok have emerged as leading contenders to host these operations.

A United Nations memorandum, accessed by the Sunday Guardian dated 25 April from the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, has directed the heads of Secretariat entities in New York and Geneva-the UN's most expensive duty stations-to conduct functional reviews by 16 May to prepare a groundwork for this reform.

Signed by the Chef de Cabinet, the memo instructs these entities to identify functi...