ABSTRACT
Over the last three-quarters of a century, member states have provided neither adequate nor reliable funding to the UN system at the level needed to enable it to fulfill the mandates that they have authorized. This reality has been compounded by the insistence for many years of Western governments on a doctrine of zero-growth of the regular (assessed) UN budget. Governments have responded to global challenges by establishing a growing number of formal and informal institutions and arrangements that are partly within, but to a large extent outside of, the UN system. These arrangements have embraced the concept of “partnership,” notably promoted as a primary way to meet the commitments in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
