RBM has some utility, but the way most UN agencies use it does not make sense to their own field staff. There is often no link between completed activities and any hypothetical result – the UN agencies get away with much sloppier results reporting than most bilateral donors. UNDP is probably the worst on this, although that depends on the country manager. In some countries, UNICEF makes a genuine attempt to describe results, but from New York, they have a real problem getting down to basics. UNIFEM, on the other hand seems to go out of its way to deal with results, far beyond what is required by the terms of the grants they get, and their handbook on results based management is the easiest to understand.

United Nations Results-Based Management System – An analysis:
A topic article in the Outcomes Theory Knowledge Base
The United Nations introduced a Results-Based Budgeting System in 2001 and is attempting to move towards more of a results-based management system. A 2008 U.N. report on progress towards implementing the approach, identified serious problems with the way the system is operating. These problems can be classified into three types of problems: 1) technical structural problems with the system; 2) problems of integrating the system with other systems at the U.N.; and, 3) problems stemming from the nature of the U.N. and the context in which it operates. The current U.N. system is analyzed using the Outcomes Systems Checklist for well structured outcomes systems. This checklist identifies the first type of problems (technical structural problems) and shows how they can be resolved. Correcting these issues would produce a technically sound system and make it easier to cope with the other two types of problems faced in introducing results-based management at the U.N.