Funding for UN entities is derived primarily from a mix of core and earmarked contributions, supplemented by revenues from the provision of services or other financial activities. It is important to note that the terminology applied to core and earmarked resources may vary between UN entities. Core resources may also be referred to as regular resources, regular budget or assessed budget, while earmarked contributions are in some instances termed extra-budgetary contributions, other non-core resources or specified voluntary contributions.
This section explores the various funding sources in greater detail based on the Data Standards approved by the High-Level Committee on Management (HLCM) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG), which came into effect on 1 January 2019. These new standards have been incorporated into the CEB’s data collection exercise, leading to the present report making use of the accompanying terminology and definitions.4
Assessed contributions
Assessed contributions are defined in the UN Data Standards as fixed amount contributions, calculated according to an agreed formula, that UN Member States undertake to pay when signing a treaty. Consequently, each time a Member State signs a treaty to become a member of a particular UN entity, the formula may be different. This section therefore focuses on the largest recipient of assessed contributions, the UN Secretariat, which received funds in excess of US$ 3 billion in 2022.
Article 17(2) of the UN Charter stipulates that ‘The expenses of the Organization shall be borne by the Members as apportioned by the General Assembly’.5 The Committee on Contributions advises the UN General Assembly on the apportionment or amount for a financial period against which expenditures may be incurred. The scale of assessment for each Member State is based on a formula intended to reflect a country’s ‘capacity to pay’, the starting point for which is a country’s share of global gross national income (GNI). Adjustments are then made to account for factors such as a country’s debt burden and if their per capita income is below the world average, with a minimum and maximum determined for least developed countries and the largest contributor (Figure 4).
UN scale of assessments: Methodology
UN Secretariat
In 2022, assessment payments ranged from a ceiling of 22% for the top contributor, the United States, to a floor of 0.001%.6 Once the scale of assessments is determined by the General Assembly, it remains fixed for at least three years.
The Committee on Contributions also advises the General Assembly on setting assessments for new members, as well as appeals by Member States seeking a change to their assessments. Additionally, it provides guidance on implementation of Article 19 of the UN Charter, which stipulates that ‘A Member of the United Nations which is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the Organization shall have no vote in the General Assembly if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years’. An exception is permitted if the Member State can demonstrate that circumstances beyond its control contributed to its inability to pay.
Beyond financing the UN Secretariat’s regular budget, assessed contributions fund international tribunals, the Capital Master Plan and UN peacekeeping operations. Every Member State contributes its share towards peacekeeping in accordance with the UN-DPO scale of assessments. This scale reflects adjustments, including whether the Member State contributes troops to peacekeeping operations and the additional percentages paid by the five permanent members of the Security Council.7
A detailed breakdown of assessed contributions for 2021 and 2022 is presented in Table 2, which also contains sparklines illustrating the evolution of assessed funding per UN entity since 2010. Although the formula determining the scale of assessments for the UN Secretariat is reviewed every three years, significant adjustments are seldom made. Overall, total volumes in nominal terms have remained relatively steady at around US$ 13–14 billion since 2010, with an average annual growth rate of just 0.04% over the 2010–2022 period.
The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), UN-DPO and the World Trade Organization (WTO) – all entities with a specific mandate related to the General Assembly and the Security Council – received over 90% of their funding through assessed contributions in 2022. Many UN entities with a global agenda and specialised assistance focus are also funded mainly by assessed contributions. For instance, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the International Tribune for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) received more than 75% of their funding through assessed contributions in 2022.
Voluntary core contributions
Voluntary core contributions constitute untied and unrestri-cted resources, monetary or in-kind, that can be flexibly utilised by a UN entity. They are termed ‘voluntary’ because they are provided at the discretion of the contributor. Unfortunately, uncertainty surrounding the timing and actual volume of voluntary contributions introduces a degree of financial risk when it comes to an entity’s forward planning. Furthermore, their discretionary nature means contributors can withhold or suspend them at will.
These contributions are ‘core’ because they play a crucial role in supporting the UN’s work, especially in bridging funding gaps to address acute needs. Alongside assessed resources, voluntary core contributions are untied, meaning they can be used to address an entity’s most critical priorities. Voluntary core contributions play a crucial role in supporting the UN’s work, especially in bridging funding gaps to address acute needs.
Voluntary core contributions are an important source of funding for many UN entities that receive little or no assessed contributions. In 2022, the top five recipients of voluntary core funding were: UNICEF (US$ 1,320 million); UNHCR (US$ 777 million); the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) (US$ 734 million); UNDP (US$ 609 million); and WFP (US$ 607 million). Together, they received 66% of the total voluntary core resources contributed to the UN system.
UNICEF receives voluntary core funding contributions both from governments and through National Committees, which raise un-earmarked funds from resource partners in the private sector (including civil society groups, companies and individual donors) and foundations world- wide. Voluntary core resources constituted 13% of UNICEF’s overall income in 2022.
UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions. As shown in Table 1, 62% (US$ 734 million) of UNRWA’s total revenues for 2022 (US$ 1.2 billion) were untied voluntary resources – the highest proportion of voluntary core resources received by a UN entity in 2022 – and 37% were voluntary earmarked contributions. Over the course of 2022, UNRWA delivered essential services for over 5.9 million registered Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.8
When reporting their audited financial statements and financial data to the CEB, UN entities must recognise revenue at the full value of the contribution agreement upon signature, thereby adhering to International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). This encompasses upfront recognition of unconditional revenues contained within multi-year agreements, as illustrated in Box 1.
Box 1: Challenges in the accounting basis for the reporting of UN system-wide financial data
The Data Standards for UN system-wide reporting of financial data require that revenue and expenses are reported by UN entities to the CEB Secretariat on an accrual basis, in most cases in accordance with International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). Under the current IPSAS, ‘on an accrual basis’ often impacts when UN entities report revenue. For example, a UN entity may be required to report the total amount of a multi-year contribution commitment in the year the commitment is made, rather than reporting contributions in the years when the cash is actually received.
UN entities have also faced challenges reporting revenue under IPSAS 23 (Revenue from Non-Exchange Transactions). Under IPSAS 23, recognition of revenue from voluntary contributions varied significantly between UN organisations, based in part on each organisation’s business model and different interpretations of contribu-tion conditionality. This has led to comparability issues.
In May 2023, however, the IPSAS Board issued a new revenue standard, IPSAS 47, which is set to be fully implemented as of 1 January 2026. IPSAS 47, which replaces three existing revenue standards (IPSAS 9, IPSAS 11 and IPSAS 23), is a single standard designed to account for revenue transactions in the public sector. It is anticipated that this change will enable UN system organisations to report revenue from voluntary contributions using a similar accounting treatment, thereby reducing differences in revenue recognition approaches for voluntary contributions. Over the course of 2023, the CEB Finance and Budget Network’s Task Force on Accounting Standards developed common policy guidance for UN organisations in applying IPSAS 47, with the hope that the new standard will ease some of the current challenges and inconsistencies UN entities (and Member States) face when it comes to revenue recognition.
Earmarked contributions and degrees of earmarking
As depicted in Figure 2, earmarked contributions have been the main driver behind the overall increase in UN system funding, more than doubling from US$ 20.3 billion in 2010 to US$ 49.6 billion in 2022. Table 3 depicts this upward trend, showing how earmarked contributions have evolved since 2021 by UN entity. As can be seen, the UN system’s earmarked revenue grew from US$ 40 billion in 2021 to US$ 49.6 billion in 2022 – an increase of US$ 9.6 billion, or 24%. Notably, four UN entities – WFP, UNICEF, UNHCR and FAO – accounted for 90% of this growth. It is worth mentioning that the first three of these entities have a significant portion of their expenditure allocated to humanitarian assistance (see section 2.1).
More than three-quarters of the funding received by 10 of the 42 UN entities depicted in Table 3 was earmarked, with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and WFP all receiving more than 90% of their funding from this financial instrument.
Earmarked contributions to the UN system by entity, 2010 - 2022 (US$ million)
Source: Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB)
The degree of earmarking depends on the exact funding instrument used. Figure 5 shows a breakdown of earmarked contributions ranging from (often tightly) earmarked project/programme-specific funding to softly earmarked funding provided through inter-agency pooled funds. Each type of earmarked contribution offers different levels of flexibility and consequently different opportunities for collaborative and coordinated approaches. Definitions of these earmarked funding types and their characteristics are given in Box 3, page 88.
The proportion of earmarked funding assigned to specific projects or programmes increased by 5% in 2022, accounting for 75% of all earmarked resources for the year. Conversely, the share of softly earmarked funding through inter-agency pooled funds fell by 2%.
Among the UN entities, WFP received the highest volume of project/programme specific contributions in 2022 (US$ 11.1 billion), followed by UNICEF (US$ 6.2 billion) and UNHCR (US$ 4.8 billion). Collectively, these revenues constituted 59% of all project/programme specific contributions to the UN system.
Earmarked contributions to the UN system by type, 2018–2022 (percentage share of total earmarked contributions)
Key insights in a flash
Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB).
Local resources are earmarked contributions from programme countries, financed by government resources, for use in support of their own development framework. In 2022, UNDP received the highest volume of local resources from programme countries, totalling US$ 1.2 billion – equivalent to 46% of all local revenues within the UN system.
While earmarked funding provides crucial resources for specific initiatives or projects, it can pose significant challenges when it comes to meeting Member State expectations around delivering comprehensive, coherent support towards realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Some earmarked funding offers higher levels of flexibility and, therefore, greater opportunities for collaboration and strategic results. Thus, regardless of whether contributions are to a specific entity or an inter-agency pooled fund, whether they are for a specific country (or countries) or theme, there is scope to ensure they are made as flexible as possible in supporting the overall strategic results of a particular plan or programme.9
Revenue from other activities
The fourth revenue stream comprises a combination of revenues for services provided and financial gains/losses resulting from investments, exchange rate fluctuations and the disposal/transfer of property, plants or equipment.10 This revenue amounted to US$ 5.2 billion in 2022, representing 7% of total UN system revenues – a US$ 178 million reduction compared to 2021.
In 2022, three UN entities received more than three-quarters of their funding from this financial instrument: the Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
UNOPS generated its entire reported income (US$ 1.2 billion) from the provision of services to UN entities and other stake- holders, while WIPO received 95% of its total income from fees paid by users of its patent-, trademark- and industrial design-related intellectual property services. Elsewhere, PAHO obtained 75% of its revenue from the provision of procurement services for vaccines and public health supplies.
Figure 6 shows total revenue for a selection of nine UN entities since 2015, including preliminary data for 2023. On average, these entities’ total revenue increased at an annual average rate of 4.2 percent over an 8-year interval, going from US$ 28.6 billion in 2015 to US$ 51.7 billion in 2023. And while there was an extraordinary increase in some entities’ revenues in 2022, they generally returned to their long-term trends in 2023. In particular, it is worth noting that 2023 preliminary total revenue figures for the nine entities combined was - with a difference of 31 million - the same as their total revenue in 2021. And while WFP and UNICEF registered record revenue levels in 2022, reaching US$ 14.4 billion and US$ 10.3 billion, respectively, these figures went back to US$ 9.1 billion and US$ 8.9 billion in 2023. Among the nine entities shown in Figure 6, however, UN-DPO stands out as the only one showing a steady decrease in revenue, at an average annual rate of -3.1 percent between 2015 and 2023. This decrease can in part be attributed to the closure or transitioning of UN peacekeeping missions (further described in section 2.1).
Total revenue of select UN entities, 2015 – 2023
Source: Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB)
Endnotes
UN Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG) and Chief Executive Board for Coordination (CEB), ‘Data Standards for United Nations System-wide reporting of financial data’, March 2024, https://unsceb.org/sites/default/files/2024-03/Data%20Standards%20 March%202024%20edition.pdf. https://www.un.org/pga/wp-content/uploads/sites/108/2024/01/SG-Letter-o….
The most recent General Assembly decision regard-ing the scale for the regular budget is contained
in Resolution 76/238, 24 December 2021, https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/76/238.
The most recent General Assembly decision regarding the scale of assessments for apportioning UN opera-tional expenditure is contained in Resolution 76/239, 24 December 2021, https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/76/239.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), ‘Annual Operational Report 2022’, p. 3. UNRWA provides assistance in the areas of education, health care, pro-tection, relief and social services, infrastructure and camp improvement, microfinance, and emergency response. See https://www.unrwa.org/sites/default/files/content/resources/2022_annual… report_-_english.pdf.
UN General Assembly and UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), ‘Report of the Secretary-General: Implementation of General Assembly resolution 75/233 on the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system: funding compact for United Nations support to the Sustainable Development Goals’, A/79/72/Add.2-E/2024/12/Add.2, 11 April 2024,
p. 3 See https://www.un.org/pga/wp-content/uploads/sites/108/2024/01/SG-Letter-o…- Crisis.pdf.