Getting Better at Getting Better: What the 2025 System-Wide Evaluation Tells Us About the UN Development System

As the UN turns 80, an independent system-wide evaluation holds up a mirror to our progress. The reflection is both encouraging and urgent. The 2025 System-Wide Evaluation highlights where reforms in the development pillar have sharpened UN impact for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) acceleration, and where we need to step up. This is not just a performance check—it is a call to stay focused, keep people and countries at the centre and scale what works.

A Roadmap—and a Reality Check

At the heart of the UN’s development system reform is a new generation of UN country teams. The evaluation confirms that the quality and coherence of country teams have improved, with important and necessary changes to how the UN development offer is organized at the country level.  

The Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework guides the UN in aligning its support with nationally defined priorities, ensuring countries lead the way in accelerating the SDGs.

The ongoing reforms of the UN development system are, in the words of the evaluation, “the most far-reaching and ambitious reform of the system to date”.  

Given the UN development system’s decentralized structure and intricate layers, attaining system-wide coherence has proven, and remains, an objective challenge.

Resident Coordinators: Leading UN Teams to Deliver

The evaluation underscores the pivotal role of Resident Coordinators (RCs) in convening governments and UN agencies into genuine coalitions for change.

Since 2019, RCs have driven better analysis, planning and joint programmes, enabling smaller or non-resident entities with specialized capacities to engage more and better in country teams. As a result, UN support is more focused, nimble and impactful.

In fact, the latest survey of host governments shows that 95 per cent of host Governments agreed that RCs serve as an entry point for easy access to UN offer, while 90 per cent agreed that the RC system helped scale up collective action for the SDGs. (Source: DESA survey data in UNSDG Chair report)

Where we can—and Must—do Better

The report is clear that progress remains uneven. In too many places:

• Cooperation Frameworks remain broad, making it difficult to drive real prioritisation.
• Joint workplans can be a heavy and administrative process, instead of a strategic tool that enables greater results and impact.
• Country team configurations are not yet adaptable enough to respond to evolving development needs.

These are signals pointing us toward the next generation of solutions.  

The UN80 Initiative of the Secretary-General has injected renewed momentum for ambitious change.  

We’re already acting:  

• Efforts are ongoing to strengthen RCs and UN country teams so that they can better benefit from regional and global expertise, to effectively respond to specific country contexts and needs.
• Planning process across the UN development system are being simplified to boost strategic impact and reduce transaction costs.
• Digital platforms and shared data use are enhancing transparency and facilitating evidence-based decision-making.

The UN Sustainable Development Group has recently released its management response on how it will take on and address the evaluation’s recommendations overall.

Sharpening the Purpose

The ultimate test of reform is harnessing the collective power of UN teams for greater impact for the benefit of people and the planet. From pandemic response to social protection and unlocking climate finance, the UN has already demonstrated what’s possible when we lead with coordination and work more effectively together.

Resetting our Direction

Real reform is not a checkbox—it is a culture shift. This evaluation sharpens our direction. It reminds us that success lies in focus, leadership and shared purpose. And it calls on all of us—across entities, sectors and borders—to build a UN development system that is agile, impactful and anchored in the aspirations of the people we serve.

Deeper Dive: Country Impact Snapshots  

Check out how a transformed UN development system and a coordination boost are impacting lives around the world. (Source: DCO)

• Thailand – The RC mobilized the Global Compact Network to secure a $46B private sector pledge for carbon neutrality by 2050 and expanded protected areas. (See also 2025 UNSDG Chair Report - Point 48)
• Indonesia – The RC convened UNDP, UNICEF, UNIDO and UNEP to pioneer financing solutions, unlocking $4B for fisheries, waste, climate and urban transport. (See also 2025 UNSDG Chair Report - Point 50)  
• Kenya – The RC led partners in a $10M health impact bond, enabling UNFPA, WHO and UNAIDS to deliver 1.5M family planning and HIV service sessions. (See also 2025 UNSDG Chair Report - Point 50)
• North Macedonia – The RC, with UNDP, IOM and UNECE, established a Green Financing Facility, channeling $26M through local banks to support SMEs and households. (See also 2025 UNSDG Chair Report - Point 50)
• Panama – The RC aligned government and partners in a $90M technical education initiative linking 200+ companies to training and jobs. (See also 2025 UNSDG Chair Report - Point 43)

Learn more about the UN's coordination results in over 130 countries worldwide.