Pooled fundingGovernance and management

Effective governance and management arrangements are crucial for attaining results. A robust and agile management architecture is central to transparent and accountable decision-making on resource allocation, monitoring, and reporting.
It also changes the nature of risks and risk-taking: In a pooled fund model, stakeholders collectively have time to put mitigation measures in place
Standard governance graph
The governance and management architecture of each pooled fund administered by the MPTF Office includes:
  • A Steering Committee to set the fund strategic direction, make resource allocation decisions, and monitor progress toward achieving transformative change. Typically, Steering Committee representatives come from government, central implementing partners (including the United Nations, national entities, civil society), and contributors.
  • A Secretariat ('Convening Agency' in a joint programme) provides technical and administrative support to the Steering Committee and handles day-to-day operations of the fund. Members of the Secretariat often appraise funding proposals, and take on coordination, report consolidation, and monitoring and evaluation functions.
  • Participating Organizations handle project implementation and cover UN agencies, government entities, and international financial institutions.
  • The MPTF Office, as the Administrative Agent (AA), takes on fund design and administration. Primary administrative functions include receiving and administering contributions for transfer to Participating Organizations (as per Steering Committee instructions), as well as financial and performance reporting. The Office uses standard United Nations legal agreements to establish and operationalize pooled funds to increase speed and reduce transaction costs.
The MPTF Office places importance on the design of governance architecture across its portfolio of trust funds and supports smooth fund governance with secretariat support tools and services.
Our transparency-first approach and commitment to the highest transparency standards contribute to mutual accountability amongst partners. To access specifics on governance arrangements for individual pooled funds, visit the governance section.