The UN development system currently faces an extraordinary opportunity to reaffirm its role and relevance in a rapidly changing world. The ambition and broad scope of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development both demands and emboldens this reform of the UN development system.

With the function of the system increasingly dictated by the nature of the funding it receives, the issue of financing is at the centre of any credible repositioning. That being said, it is far from clear what the appetite is for financing reform and which reforms should be prioritised.

This third annual report on financing the UN development system seeks to contribute to the debate by providing a thorough overview of the revenue, income sources, and expenditure of the UN development system. It gauges the major trends, opportunities and challenges around financing, while also presenting five possible pathways along which the UN development system can reposition for Agenda 2030.

*Please note in the printed version of the report there are misprints in Figure 20 (UNHCR, UNDP), Figure 24 and Table 8; they have been corrected in this online version.