The UN system continues to be not only the largest and fastest-growing channel for multilateral overseas development assistance, but the channel with the biggest share of earmarked funding. OECD-DAC countries contribute a higher proportion of earmarked funding to the UN system than they do to other multilateral institutions, such as the European Union, the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, and regional development banks. The proportion of earmarked UN funding from OECD-DAC countries has also grown substantially since 2011. In 2021, the UN received US$ 29 billion in funding, of which 73% was earmarked, compared to 60% in 2011. UN entities’ traditional role in crisis and emergency responses is one of the factors behind the UN’s relatively large share of earmarked contributions.
Channels of multilateral assistance from OECD-DAC countries, core and earmarked, 2011 and 2021 (US$ billion)

Key insights in a flash
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)