About the Event
The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation hosted The UN Funding Crisis: What is at stake? – a virtual discussion held as part of the OECD Multilateral Development Finance (MDF) Week 2026. The event brought together experts from the UN system, think tanks, multilateral organisations, and development policy institutions to reflect on what current funding pressures mean for multilateral effectiveness, UN reform, governance, country-level delivery, and the future of international cooperation.
Questions explored:
- What happens to multilateralism when funding becomes increasingly fragmented, earmarked, and politically conditional?
- What institutional functions are most vulnerable under prolonged financial pressure?
- How can the multilateral system adapt while preserving legitimacy, effectiveness, and universality?
- How are funding pressures affecting country-level delivery and support tonational priorities?
- What role should Member States play in protecting the long-term foundations of multilateral cooperation?
Key takeaways:
The discussion highlighted that the UN funding crisis is already reshaping the multilateral system in ways that go beyond reduced budgets. Participants highlighted that prolonged funding pressures risk weakening capacities that are difficult to rebuild: institutional memory, policy expertise, coordination functions, normative work, country-level delivery and the impartiality of the international civil service.
At the same time, the discussion underlined that effectiveness is not determined by resources alone. As one speaker put it: “Constrained resources do not reduce effectiveness. Unclear choices do.”
The current moment could still become an opportunity for renewal – but only if reform efforts move beyond cost-cutting and are matched by more strategic funding choices, stronger governance, clearer prioritisation and a renewed commitment to collective outcomes. Read the full summary here.
The discussion featured contributions from:
- John Hendra (Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation)
- Suzanne Steensen (MOPAN)
- Angela Heucher (DEval)
- Ronny Patz and Anna Novoselova (IDOS).
The discussion formed part of the OECD Multilateral Development Finance Week 2026 programme. Read more about the MDF Week 2026 here.