External publications

Pathologies in the United Nations Development System: the role of funding structures

Baumann, Max-Otto / Bernhard Reinsberg
External Publications (2025)

in: Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations 31 (4), 395-427

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/19426720-03104002
Open access

The United Nations Development System plays a key role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, but it faces criticisms such as duplication of efforts, lack of coordination, and poor fit. Drawing on research in the tradition of organizational pathologies, we interrogate how inadequate funding structures underlie such problems. We develop a framework that connects features of earmarked funding to development effectiveness through their effect on organizational pathologies. Synthesizing the findings from 28 UN evaluation reports and 53 semi-structured interviews with key informants in the UN Development System and donor governments, we analyze how earmarked funding decreases the effectiveness of UN agencies. Our results have implications for our understanding of the UN Development System and multilateralism more generally.

About the IDOS author

Further IDOS experts