Clear targets for strengthening resources to UN inter-agency pooled funds have been established as part of this high-level agreement. For instance, the proportion of voluntary non-core contributions to development activities provided by Member States through inter-agency pooled funds is set to be 30% by 2027, while the annual capitalisation of both the Joint SDG Fund and the Peacebuilding Fund is expected to reach US$ 500 million by the same year. Moreover, total annual contributions to development-related country-level MPTFs in support of UNSDCFs are targeted to reach US$ 800 million in 2027.²²

Under the new Funding Compact, UNSDG entities have committed to work for a UNDS that is more strategic and responsive, more collaborative and integrated, and more efficient and streamlined. Regarding UN inter-agency pooled funds, the UNSDG entities have pledged to implement common quality-management features in all UN inter-agency pooled funds by 2028, and to have completed mid-term and final evaluations of 25 inter-agency pooled funds with annual contributions above US$ 5 million by the same year.²³

Despite the positive trend in funding received from sources other than governments sources, the observation that UN system funding is concentrated in a stable, limited group of OECD-DAC contributors also applies to inter-agency pooled funds. Figure 19 illustrates the top ten contributors’ thematic priorities when it comes to investing in inter-agency pooled funds, divided between humanitarian pooled funds and the three themes that fall under development-related pooled funds: 1) peace and transition funds; 2) climate and environment funds; and 3) development funds. Together, these ten contributors provided 80% of the resources UN inter-agency pooled funds received in 2022. There are some shifts in the top ten ranking compared to 2021, with the United States entering the group in ninth place and Switzerland in tenth.

German funding to UN inter-agency pooled funds continued to be noteworthy in 2022, with the CERF (US$ 146 million) and the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (US$ 114 million) receiving the highest volume of contributions. Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Denmark displayed a strong focus on humanitarian pooled funds, while Germany and Norway contributed significantly to climate and environment funds. The growing urgency of combatting climate change means the importance of climate and environment funds within the UN inter-agency pooled funds portfolio has increased accordingly. These funds have grown from a modest US$ 43 million in 2015 to US$ 231 million in 2022. Driving this positive trend is the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI), which received funding in excess of US$ 150 million in 2022, equivalent to 65% of the total funding allocated to UN climate- and environment-related inter-agency pooled funds.

Figure 20 shows that 25 countries surpassed the 10% threshold for channelling earmarked contributions to devel-opment assistance through inter-agency pooled funds in 2022. This group includes all the top ten Member State contributors to inter-agency pooled funds aside from the United States. As previously mentioned, one of the Member State commitments set out in the new Funding Compact is to provide 30% of non-core contributions for development activities through inter-agency pooled funds by 2027. Figure 20 reveals that four Member States – Australia, Austria,  Norway, and Sweden – are already fulfilling this commitment, while Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, and Liechtenstein are closing in on the target, having surpassed the 25% mark.

Turning to the receiving end of inter-agency pooled funds, Figure 21 illustrates which ten UN entities are the largest implementers of pooled funds and disaggregates the resources they receive by the fund’s thematic area. The figure is divided into two parts: the first shows the top ten entities for 2022, while the second shows the top ten entities for the period between 2016 – when implementation of the SDGs began – and 2022.

In 2022, the UN Secretariat received US$ 410 million from the MPTF Office as fund administrator for six country-based humanitarian pooled funds, under which OCHA also managed contracts with NGO recipients (Afghanistan, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Sudan).

UNDP was the UN entity that saw the largest aggregated volume of transfers from UN inter-agency pooled funds during the 2016–2022 period, with 72% of the US$ 2.74 billion received originating from development-related inter-agency pooled funds. UNICEF and WFP were second and third in terms of resources channelled through inter-agency pooled funds, receiving US$ 2.45 billion and US$ 1.79 billion respectively.

Figure 22 illustrates the countries in which pooled funds accounted for 15% or more of earmarked development-related expenditure. This gives an indication of the amount of flexible funding available for strategic implementation of, among other things, UNSDCFs. In 2022, 34 countries surpassed the 15% threshold, while a total of 58 countries received more than 10% – about the same level as in 2021, but a significant increase from 28 in 2018.

There is a clear trend towards more countries benefitting from inter-agency pooled funds. Looking at the top three countries, both Tuvalu and Gabon received resources from the Peacebuilding Fund. In the case of Papua New Guinea, the 83% of earmarked development funding channelled through UN inter-agency pooled funds came mainly from two country funds: the Papua New Guinea UN Country Fund administered by MPTF Office, and Support to Rural Entrepreneurship, Investment and Trade in Papua New Guinea (STREIT PNG), administered by FAO.

Some programme countries have also enhanced implementation of their national Cooperation Framework by investing in country-level pooled funds and accelerating SDG attainment. In 2022, Montenegro provided funding to the Montenegro UN Country Fund, while Uzbekistan did likewise for the Aral Sea UN Human Security Trust Fund for the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan.

Figure 23 illustrates the total amounts transferred in 2022 to implement programmes/projects in the top 15 Member States receiving resources channelled through UN inter-agency pooled funds. In Afghanistan, there was a dramatic increase in needs driven by a combination of repeated economic shocks, political turmoil and severe food insecurity caused by the country’s worst drought in 27 years.²⁴ Afghanistan continues to be the country receiving the most funding from inter-agency pooled funds, with the total amount increasing from US$ 310 million in 2021 to US$ 475 million in 2022, predominantly sourced from the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund.

While conflict-affected countries in need of humanitarian support are the largest receivers of inter-agency pooled funds overall, some countries – such as Papua New Guinea and Malawi – benefit from development-related pooled funds mainly for the purposes of SDG acceleration. Climate and environment funds have also increased in importance in recent years. Such funds address the impacts of climate, biodiversity and environment-related risks on intersectional challenges related to food security, vulnerable communities, and resilient infrastructure. CAFI and the Global Fund for Coral Reefs are two notable climate and environment pooled funds: the former aims to support Central African countries in protecting and sustainably managing their forest resources, while the latter is an innovative blended finance mechanism dedicated to coral reef conservation and raising resilience in reef-dependent communities.