The Data Standards for UN system-wide reporting of financial data was developed through a joint initiative between the CEB’s HLCM and UNSDG. The standards seek to enable accurate, comparable disaggregated financial reporting across the entire UN system, based on agreed definitions and classifications aligned with the SDGs and international standards.
These agreed definitions encompass the four UN functions: 1) development assistance; 2) humanitarian assistance; 3) peace operations; and 4) global agenda and specialised assistance. Development assistance aims to promote the sustainable development of UN programming countries, with a focus on long-term impacts. The primary objective of humanitarian assistance is to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity, often as a response to natural disasters or man-made crises. Peace operations involve activities that help conflict-affected countries create the conditions for lasting peace. Finally, global agenda and specialised assistance refers to activities that either address global or regional challenges without a direct link to the other three functions, or support for sustainable development in non-UN programming countries.26
The UN system’s total expenditure reached US$ 67.5 billion in 2022, an increase of US$ 7 billion – almost 12% – compared to the previous year. As shown in the doughnut in Figure 25, which illustrates how these funds were distributed among the four functions in 2022, development assistance accounted for US$ 20.1 billion, comprising 30% of total annual UN system-wide expenditure, while the equivalent figures for humanitarian assistance were US$ 31.1 billion and 46%.
The bar graph on the right-hand side of Figure 25 illustrates the yearly breakdown of expenditure across the four functions from 2018 to 2022. While the proportion allocated to development assistance shows minor fluctuations, it has generally remained stable, on average accounting for 31% of total UN system expenditure.27 By contrast, the proportion allocated to humanitarian assistance shows a clear upward trend, having increased from 36% in 2018 to 46% in 2022. Meanwhile, the share allocated to peace operations declined from 19% to 13% over the same five-year period, alongside a decrease in the proportion of expenditure on global agenda and special assistance, which fell from 15% to 11%.
UN system expenditure by function, 2018-2022
Key insights in a flash
Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB).
There has been a dramatic rise in the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance over the period in question, from 136 million people worldwide in 2018 to 339 million people in 2022. Behind this expansion lies what has been termed a ‘polycrisis’, which encompasses factors ranging from health epidemics to protracted conflicts; forced displacement to increased costs-of-living; acute food insecurity to the impacts of climate change. Unmet appeal requirements – the disparity between needs and required funding – reached US$ 21.3 billion in 2022: although the US$ 30.4 billion of coordinated plan funding represented a record high, the estimated resources required to assist the 230 million people most in need of humanitarian assistance stood at US$ 51.7 billion.28
Peace operations expenditure is largely accounted for by spending on UN peacekeeping and political missions. Peacekeeping operations are led by UN-DPO, which is tasked with assisting Member States and the Secretary-General in their efforts to advance peace and security. When it comes to the implementation of UN Security Council mandates, UN-DPO provides political and executive direction to UN peacekeeping operations – including the deployment of civilian, police and military personnel – and is responsible for maintaining contact with the Security Council, troop and financial contributors, and parties to the conflict. In 2022, there were 12 UN peacekeeping operations spread across three continents.29
Total expenditure of the UN system by entity and function, 2022 and 2010-2022 (US$ million)
Source: Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB)
Total spending on peace operations fell from US$ 9.9 billion in 2018 to US$ 8.7 billion in 2022. This decrease is explained by the closure or transitioning of UN peace-keeping missions: the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) closed on March 2018; the UN Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH) closed on October 2019; and the African Union–UN hybrid operation in Darfur in 2020 (UNAMID) officially ended its mission in December 2020. Moreover, while the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has not closed, it has undergone reductions in troop levels and adjustments in mandate focus.
The Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) provides support to the Secretary-General and his envoys, as well as UN political missions deployed around the world, with the aim of defusing crises and promoting lasting solutions to conflict. In 2022, country-level expenditures for the 39 continuing special political missions, including preventive diplomacy and post-conflict peacebuilding missions, amounted to US$ 728 million (for further details regarding UN expenditure on crisis- affected countries, see section 2.3).30
Table 4 provides a comprehensive breakdown of 2022 expenditure by UN entity and function, with the sparklines showing how expenditure has developed over time. In line with UN revenue dynamics, expenditure has increased 69% since 2010. This growth is largely attributable to five UN entities – WFP, UNICEF, UNHCR, the UN Secretariat and WHO – which collectively account for 78% of this increase. WFP and UNHCR both have a primary focus on humanitarian support, while UNICEF’s allocations are distributed between development and humanitarian assistance. WHO focuses mainly on global agenda and specialised assistance, and the UN Secretariat distributes expenditure across all four functions.
Figure 26, which illustrates development and humanitarian assistance expenditure trends from 2015 onwards, stands out as the sole figure in Chapter 2 presenting 2023 preliminary expenditure as reported to the CEB. Notably, the UN Secretariat and UNICEF feature on both. Development assistance expenditure levels have remained relatively stable, with the UN Secretariat showing the highest average annual growth rate for the period 2015-2023, at 10.0%. When it comes to humanitarian assistance, all the UN entities saw their expenditure increase between 2015 and 2022. For example, in this period, WFP expenditure increased by US$ 5.8 billion and UNICEF expenditure by US$ 3.1 billion, which corresponds to average annual growth rates in expenditures of 10.8%, 11.3%, respectively.
Expenditure of select UN entities for development and humanitarian assistance, 2015-2023
(A) Development assistance
(B) Humanitarian assistance
Source: Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB).
The central role played by the UN in responding to growing humanitarian need across the world is evident in Figure 27, which illustrates total UNDS expenditure by function. In 2022, UN OAD allocations amounted to US$ 51.2 billion, comprising US$ 20 billion in development assistance and US$ 31.1 billion in humanitarian assistance. Humanitarian expenditure shows a notable upward trend, reflecting an annual average increase rate of 11.0% between 2010 and 2022. By contrast, funding for development assistance – an area in which numerous other development partners, including IFIs, are active – fluctuated between US$ 15 billion and US$ 20 billion over the same period, with a modest annual average increase rate of 2.0%.
Total UN expenditure for development and humanitarian assistance, 2010-2022 (US$ billion)
Key insights in a flash
Report of the Secretary-General (A/79/72 - E/2024/12). Historical data from various reports.
Endnotes
OCHA, ‘Global Humanitarian Overview 2023’, (OCHA, 2022), https://humanitarianaction.info/document/global-humanitarian-overview-2… and https://fts.unocha.org/plans/overview/2022.
The 12 active UN peacekeeping operations in 2022 included: United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA); United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL); United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF); United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS); and United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). MINUSMA subsequently closed in 2023. For current peacekeeping operations see https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/where-we-operate.
Secretary-General proposed programme budget for special political missions (A/78/6 (Sec. 3)/Add.1). p. 33, https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol-=A%2F78%2F6(Sect.3)%2FAdd.1&….