stakeholders cannot simultaneously preserve volumes and concessionality. The question facing donors is therefore not whether the system can absorb cuts without consequences, but which objectives should be prioritised and which consequences they are willing to accept. functions. Core contributions provide MDOs with flexibility to deliver on their mandates, invest in target emerging priorities. When used strategically and aligned with institutional mandates and partner reliance on earmarked funding has also been shown to fragment funding, increase transaction costs, and reduce multilateral flexibility (Ihl et al., 2025[22). Changes to this balance therefore affect not only individual organisations, but also the coherence of the multilateral development system as a whole. multilateral funding, which had remained close to 27% for most of the past decade, fell to 23% in 2024, gross disbursements in 2023 constant prices.