Pooled fundingWhat is an inter-agency pooled fund?

The United Nations adopted the official definition of pooled funds from the Financing and Budgeting Network in June 2015. It has since been integrated into UNSDG guidelines and UN data standards for system-wide financial reporting.
Pooled fund core
A UN inter-agency pooled fund has three distinct functional areas.

Design and administration: Pooled funds support a clearly defined programmatic purpose and results framework, and rely on contributions from more than one contributor. Financing gets blended, instead of earmarked, prior to being allocated to a specific UN organization or held by a UN fund administrator.

Joint governance and/or fund operations: A UN-led governance mechanism decides on project/programmatic allocations, taking into account a fund's programmatic purpose and results framework.

Fund implementation: Implementation of fund activities is (fully or largely) entrusted to UN organizations that assume programmatic and financial accountability for resources received.

The firewall and clear delimitation of different roles is key to the effective functioning of pooled funds.
 
In this introductory video to pooled funding, the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office Executive Coordinator describes the basics and rationale of inter-agency pooled funds and why they are key to SDG financing and UN funding in addressing current challenges.