Effective governance and management arrangements are crucial for the attainment of 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 they are faced collectively and with enough time for mitigation measures to be put in place.

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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, the Steering Committee is composed of representatives from government, main implementing partners (including the United Nations, national entities, civil society), and contributors.

• A Secretariat ('Convening Agency' in a joint programme) that provides technical and administrative support to the Steering Committee and is responsible for 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 are responsible for project implementation and cover UN agencies, government entities, and international financial institutions.

• The MPTF Office, as the Administrative Agent (AA), is responsible for fund design and administration. Primary administrative functions include receiving and administering contributions for transfer to Participating Organisations (as per Steering Committee instructions), as well as financial and performance reporting. The Office uses standard UN legal agreements to establish and operationalize pooled funds to increase speed and reduce transaction costs.

The MPTF Office places a great deal of importance on the design of governance architecture across its portfolio of trust funds. (INSERT LINK TO DESIGNING POOLED FUNDS MANUAL) and support smooth fund governance operation by way of Secretariat support tools and services. Our transparency-first approach and commitment to the highest transparency standards contributes to mutual accountability among partners.

For specifics on governance arrangements for individual pooled funds visit the governance section.