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Analysis related to proposed UN80 initiative
UNDP and UNOPS merger
Initial analysis of possible UNDP–UNOPS merger: summary of UNDP and UNOPS ‘As Is’ data mapping
The Secretary-General’s UN80 reform agenda (2025) calls for a thorough assessment of the benefits, costs and risks of a possible merger between UNDP and UNOPS. This paper provides a summary of the ‘as is’ data mapping conducted by each entity, in accordance with the Terms of Reference for the initial analysis shared with the Executive Board (EB) on 3 November 2025.
Established 30 years apart - UNDP in 1965 and UNOPS as a separate entity in 1995 - they are both governed by the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board. The two organizations have separate General Assembly (GA) mandates and roles, and different operating models and organizational cultures for consideration in the assessment.
UNDP serves as the UN’s largest global development organization, mandated by the GA in 1965 as the ‘central UN programme’; for development assistance (GA resolution 2029-XX). Subsequent GA resolutions have reaffirmed UNDP’s development mandate, including its policy-shaping and integrator role and backbone function within the UN development system. UNDP has also been mandated through numerous GA resolutions with roles and responsibilities related to the UNCDF, UNOSSC and UNV. The UNDP Strategic Plan 2026-2029 supports countries’ progress towards high human development while protecting the planet. It articulates four objectives—prosperity, governance, crisis resilience, and a healthy planet—accelerated through digital/AI integration, gender equality, and sustainable finance. UNDP’s country-led delivery model grounds all programming in the principle of national ownership through EB-approved CPDs aligned with UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks. UNDP’s comparative advantage is not only scale, but its ability to combine (i) trusted government relationships, (ii) country-led programming grounded in national ownership, and (iii) system-wide convening and integration—linking local delivery with global policy outcomes.
UNOPS role is implementation; a demand-driven, non-programmatic provider of project services for partners in the UN and beyond; mandated by GA resolution 65/176 as a UN resource for procurement, infrastructure and project management, and related capacity development activities. It expands partners’ implementation capacity across development, humanitarian and peacekeeping efforts. It offers services through three models: support services, technical advice, and integrated solutions combining both. The UNOPS strategic plan, 2026-2029 sets ambition to support countries accelerate progress toward the 2030 Agenda, bridging implementation gaps, at scale and with speed; and honing knowledge for eight mutually reinforcing non-programmatic missions advancing SDGs and climate action, even in the most challenging contexts. Projects, designed with focus on SDGs, national plans, UNSDCFs and cross-cutting concerns, are delivered based on full cost recovery and fee-for-service in accordance with the UNOPS role and mandate for implementation.
UNDP maintains a universal presence across over 170 countries and territories through 135 country offices and sub-offices, five regional bureaux, and four global policy centres. This footprint, supported by 147 Member State-approved Standard Basic Assistance Agreements (SBAAs), provides a unique legal and operational platform that enables sustained, in-country development partnership—before, during, and after crises—and often enables broader UN system presence and operations. This is a strategic asset, not only an administrative footprint. It enables UNDP to manage a portfolio exceeding 5,000 projects annually, while also delivering upstream policy advice, institutional capacity, and convening support that translate national priorities into global progress - including supporting global processes like COPs, FFD, G20 and others. With total expenditure exceeding USD 20 billion per strategic plan cycle, delivering development results, UNDP is the largest UN development organization. This universal platform and country-led model are central to UNDP’s integrator role and to the coherence of the UN Development System.
UNOPS deploys with agility across more than 130 programme countries. Its senior management of 56 personnel, at P6 /D1 to USG levels, manages implementation of over 1,100 projects on behalf of more than 200 partners annually. Over the years, demand for its services has increased significantly, in 2024, direct delivery amounted to $2.7 billion, 66% in countries in special or fragile situations. The same year, UNOPS signed close to $4 billion worth of new agreements for implementation of UN and other partners’ development, humanitarian and peacekeeping efforts.
For comparability, the financial information below is presented on the basis of each entity’s 2024 UNBOA-audited, IPSAS-compliant financial statements, applying the common IPSAS framework adopted by the General Assembly; CEB Financial statistics; and broader operational throughput is referred to as supplementary context only.
| Key financial indicators (2024) | UNDP | UNOPS |
| IPSAS-compliant financials (audited): | ||
| Total Assets | USD 15.1 billion | USD 3.8 billion |
| Total Liabilities | USD 2.9 billion | USD 3.5 billion |
| Net Assets/Equity | USD 12.2 billion | USD 375 million |
| Revenue | USD 5.33 billion | USD 1.45 billion |
| Expenses | USD 5.34 billion | USD 1.48 billion |
| Revenue by financing instrument (CEB statistics): | ||
| Assessed contributions | 0 | 0 |
| Voluntary core (un-earmarked) contributions | USD 0.49 billion | 0 |
| Voluntary non-core (earmarked) contributions | USD 4.16 billion | 0 |
| Revenue from other activities | USD 0.64 billion | USD 1.57 billion |
| Other operational indicators: | ||
| Agency, pass-through and throughput transactions | USD 2.84 billion | USD 1.38 billion |
| Agency contributions to the UNDS (2019-2025) | USD 73 million | USD 21 million |
| Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) | 5.19 | 0.95 |
| Development activities/ total expenditure | 92 cents to 1 dollar | N/A |
| Effective average indirect cost-recovery rate (2021-2024) | 6.24% | N/A |
| Effective average management fee rate (2021-2024) | N/A | 3.96% |
| Total project expenses/total revenue | N/A | 96 cents to 1 dollar |
UNDP maintains a globally distributed workforce of approximately 23,800 personnel, including 7,600 staff members. Nearly nine in 10 personnel are based in country offices and regional centres. The organization operates the leading Global Shared Services Centre (GSSC) in the UN system, processing USD 5.3 billion in payments across 122 currencies in 2024 and issuing approximately 600,000 pay slips annually. In 2024, UNDP leveraged its procurement platform to enable delivery across its programme activities and provide capacity building to Member States to handle future procurement, processing USD 2.9 billion in goods and services in 2024, including USD 310 million through collaborative procurement. UNDP manages 136 UN common premises across 118 UN Country Teams.
UNOPS employs some 5,500 personnel deployed across headquarters, regional offices, multi-country and country offices. More than nine in 10 personnel are away from headquarters in Copenhagen. In 2024, UNOPS leveraged its project-based operating model to provide secretariat services for hosting of 14 multilateral initiatives. Its scalable GSSC delivers location-independent support services, including administration of about 9,500 personnel and 20,000 contracts on behalf of its partners. GSSC processes some $3 billion in payments across 132 currencies and issues about 180,000 pay slips a year. As a mandated central UN resource for procurement, UNOPS procured $1.7 billion worth of goods and services from more than 5,800 suppliers, and offered capacity development for institutions and local suppliers. About $170 million was enabled through UN Web Buy Plus, available to all partners. Like all project services, procurement is a resource for UN and other partners to use at their discretion. When partners seek economies of scale the fee can be as low as 3%. Cost-effective procurement is an essential complement to UNOPS expertise for derisking implementation of infrastructure, projects and programmes responding to national priorities.
UNDP deploys an enterprise digital backbone centered on the Quantum ERP platform (Oracle), supported by cloud-first architecture adopted by the Quantum Consortium (11 partner agencies). Participation in the consortium as a means to access the ERP platform is available to UNOPS. The organization integrates Salesforce (CRM), ServiceNow (ITSM), and Microsoft/Google cloud services, with cybersecurity capabilities including Azure Sentinel and Microsoft Defender. UNDP holds multiple ISO certifications (9001/20000/27001/ 27701/22301) with UNICC providing shared infrastructure services. Guided by its digital strategy, UNDP has harnessed the power of digital technology and innovation to respond more effectively to development challenges. Notably, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, UNDP helped to adopt 580 digital solutions in 82 countries including 96 data collection systems, 71 e-commerce systems, 61 e-learning platforms, and 149 e-governance systems. In 2025 more than 50% of UNDP projects had a digital component and 100+ AI-enabled initiatives were implemented. Corporate digitization investments in strategic automation, centralization of global shared services, and the use of AI yielded efficiencies of $ 18.7M in 2025.
UNOPS maintains a lean, technically proficient IT organization built on a fully cloud-native architecture hosted exclusively on Google Cloud Platform (GCP), centered on the oneUNOPS ERP (Unit4 Business World), a heavily customized platform specifically engineered for a global project-based operating model. By utilizing an API-centric design, Google Identity Platform, and Microsoft Entra ID federation, UNOPS systems achieve complete interoperability with any platform across the UN system, regardless of vendor or technical stack, with cybersecurity capabilities anchored by Google SecOps and Security Command Center. Functioning as an enterprise technology development house, UNOPS builds and maintains its entire application landscape through an internal team of experts with no external vendor dependencies, while also serving as a multi-tenant hosting provider for hosted entities and client projects. Guided by its digital transformation strategy, UNOPS has developed proprietary foundational AI infrastructure, including a Corporate Vector Store and purpose-built frameworks, enabling AI-powered solutions such as the Grant+ management system, the Opportunity+ partnership platform, Playbook (a universal platform for reusable task patterns), and the Bob AI assistant, collectively supporting the administration of approximately 16,500 personnel (UNOPS and partner personnel) and $3 billion in annual payments. Through UNOPS own eSourcing platform and UN Web Buy Plus, UNOPS further enables over $1.8 billion in transparent procurement annually for more than 200 partners. These technology-driven efficiencies allow UNOPS to maintain a management expense ratio of only 4.1%, ensuring that 96 cents of every dollar is delivered as direct project services.
Both organizations are subject to external audit by the UN Board of Auditors. According to the Aid Transparency Index 2024, UNDP is rated as “very good” (top 5 multilateral; consistently high performer 2018-2024). UNDP has reported 19 consecutive clean/unqualified audit opinions from the UN Board of Auditors without any emphasis of matter. UNOPS has for 19 consecutive years had clean/unqualified opinions. UNOPS operates under EB governance supported by independent internal audit, investigations, ethics, and an external audit advisory committee.