UNFPA 2023
Core funding mobilization
Join UNFPA's coalition of core contributors supporting rights and choices for all.
What are core resources?
Core resources, also called regular resources, are crucial to realizing UNFPA’s mandate: to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. They support everything we do.
As core funding is not earmarked for specific programming, these resources enable UNFPA to act flexibly and responsively to meet the needs of women and girls, especially when crisis strikes.
These resources also act as seed funding for UNFPA’s resource mobilization efforts; for each dollar of core resources raised in 2022, UNFPA mobilized an average of $2.50 of other resources. That year, 96 partners provided a total of USD 442.5 million to UNFPA’s core resources.
Core resources are the foundation for all UNFPA programmes aimed at leaving no one behind and reaching the furthest behind first: Two thirds of UNFPA core resources go to our programmes on the ground, and the other third funds operations that make those programmes possible and viable.
Why contribute to UNFPA core resources?
Around the world, UNFPA responds to the health and protection needs of women and girls before, during and after emergencies – and we couldn’t do it without core resources. All the work UNFPA and its partners do depends entirely on the voluntary generosity of contributors.
Every year, core funding from governments helps us pursue our three transformative results: The end of unmet need for family planning, preventable maternal deaths and harmful practices such as gender-based violence.
With challenges like the climate crisis and conflict threatening to undermine progress towards these goals, UNFPA’s mission has never been more relevant – and its corresponding need for flexible funding has never been greater. The overall decline in the ratio of core to non-core funding jeopardizes UNFPA’s global impact and, therefore, the lives of women and girls.
We must reverse this trend now.
Contributing to core resources creates a trust-based partnership between your country and UNFPA, and signals your political support for our work and that of the United Nations.
All contributions, whatever their size, make a meaningful difference, and diversifying our donor base lowers financial risks for UNFPA programmes. In 2022, UNFPA rallied 96 governments to commit to fund core resources, from all countries and regions, including the most fragile and conflicted-affected ones. This demonstrates that we can unite as an international community to show solidarity and support for all women and girls.
Core resources embody trust in our vision and our capacity to realize shared goals. In 2023, UNFPA aims to rally together a diverse coalition of contributors, from governments to citizens, around our mandate and values to ensure rights and choices for all.
Next year will mark a milestone for women’s and girls’ health and rights. As we will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development, now is the time to unite to realize the bold ambitions of its Programme of Action adopted by 179 governments. We need the commitment of all to take this visionary approach forward to realize sexual and reproductive health and rights for all, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
What do core resources help achieve?
Core resources ensure our work leaves no one behind, and drives progress towards UNFPA’s three transformative goals – the end of unmet need for family planning, preventable maternal deaths and harmful practices and gender-based violence – by:
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Enabling UNFPA’s presence on the ground in your country and dozens of others
Core resources fund UNFPA’s global presence in more than 150 countries and territories around the world and where humanitarian crises strike. -
Encouraging changes to social norms that harm women and girls
UNFPA uses core funding to play a global normative role as an advocate for sexual and reproductive health and make long-lasting, sustainable impacts in the lives of women and girls that promote, protect and fulfill human rights. -
Promoting sustainability and country ownership of programs
Predictable core funding enhances the sustainability of programmes and enables capacity-building of and relationship-building with partner governments and other stakeholders. These partnerships and long-term relationships on the ground enable participatory approaches to designing our programming. Core funding enables UNFPA to reach the last mile; only with core funding are we capable of putting life-saving supplies in the hands of women and girls who would otherwise not have them. -
Empowering UNFPA to lead on population data
Core resources help establish UNFPA’s global leadership on population data, which inform sound policies that build demographic resilience. Core resources support 125 programme countries in conducting their population and housing censuses and improving population data systems for tracking country-level progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. -
Allowing UNFPA respond quickly to humanitarian emergencies
UNFPA provides ongoing support to people all around the world, but we cannot always predict where and when our help will be needed. When environments change or crises strike, core funding allows us to be prepared, adapt to shocks and act quickly to save lives. -
Supporting UNFPA oversight functions
Core resources fund UNFPA oversight functions1, which ensure that UNFPA’s operations are diligently conducted, efficient, transparent, and accountable. They are essential to demonstrate value for money to taxpayers, contributors, governments and other constituencies. -
Enabling UN inter-agency coordination
Core resources support UN coordination, which is fundamental to increasing the impact and efficiency of UN country level-operations through improved division of labor among UN entities. Contributing to core resources represents an investment in the overall efficiency of the United Nations Development System in each country, which in turn accelerates progress towards implementing the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals at the national level.
1Oversight functions include audits and investigations, evaluations, ethics and the legal office.
By giving to core, you help protect the most vulnerable women and girls during times of crisis
When unexpected crises strike, multi-year core funding is what allows UNFPA to deploy rapid responses that save lives. As this funding is not tied to specific programming, it can be allocated with flexibility and agility to address the needs of highly vulnerable women and girls facing life-threatening situations around the globe.
UNFPA’s need for resource availability and predictability has only grown in recent years amid challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and global climate emergency. Decreases in core funding delay UNFPA’s responses to crises – with grave consequences for those most in need.
UNFPA recognizes the extraordinary commitment of donors contributing to core resources at a time of economic and geopolitical uncertainty. But with women’s health and rights under threat, the solidarity of your country and people to the world’s most vulnerable have never been more crucial. The solidarity of your country with vulnerable women and girls whose health and rights are under threat has never been more crucial.
Access the contribution form and payment instructions
rmb@unfpa.orgUNFPA core contributors in 2022
UNFPA encourages multi-year core contributions, which enable programmes to be delivered in a predictable and sustainable manner.
UNFPA is committed to ensuring transparency and visibility by recognizing donors for their core contributions and the results achieved thanks to their partnership.
*Countries with multi-year commitments in 2022.
Sincere thanks to the governments of:
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