Given that initial data gaps were anticipated (with more data to evaluate progress expected in 2026 and beyond), monitoring in Year 1 has focused on a combination of process deliberations, existing official SDG indicators, and employing proxy indicators that speak to the essential meaning of a select few Pact Actions. On the whole, slow yet visible progress is observed across key elements of the Pact. For instance, steps toward strengthening the Peacebuilding Commission (Action 44) are underway through the 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review, and the recent (April 2025) World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings and (June-July 2025) Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) are helping to sustain momentum on certain international financial architecture reforms (Pact Actions 47-52). Meanwhile, and purposely gleaning insights from data trends preceding the Pact's adoption, for Action 27 Sub-Action (c) on bridging the digital divide, 68% of the world's population was online in 2024, compared to only 53% in 2019 — which could be accelerated further through the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and Global Dialogue on AI Governance.

At the same time that initial progress is observed, proposed steep funding cuts are anticipated to hurt Pact implementation across the board, as many countries begin to pull back from foreign aid and international organization financing. It is estimated that Official Development Assistance (ODA) alone could decline by 20% to 40% in the coming years amidst geopolitical shifts, resulting in a reduction of $50 to $115 billion less aid per annum compared to 2023. Figures already point to a decline of 7.1% in ODA in 2024 compared to 2023 — the first drop after five years of growth. Calls to raise military spending in the U.S., U.K., and EU countries — which together provided 63% of all ODA flows in 2023 — could further divert funds from development. Moreover, the Trump Administration has recommended to Congress $1.7 billion in cuts for most assessed and all voluntary contributions to the UN and other international organizations, on top of another proposed $1.6 billion reduction to the UN's peacekeeping budget (where the U.S. is already $1.1 billion in arrears). UN agencies are already feeling the strain: the UN humanitarian office faces a $58 million shortfall, forcing it to cut 20% of its staff; the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) anticipates a 20% budget reduction; and the UN migration agency expects a 30% funding drop — potentially impacting 6,000 jobs.

From the seventeen intergovernmental processes overseen directly by the President of the General Assembly to other international fora beyond the UN proper in New York, including the World Trade Organization in Geneva, G20/G7/BRICS+, Climate COPs managed out of Bonn, and regional organizations, creative and resourceful leadership — both individually and collectively by Member States — are fundamental to advancing the 291 (out of 361) government-led Sub-Actions in the Pact for the Future, Global Digital Compact, and Declaration on Future Generations. Initial evidence suggests (for instance, in the realm of peace and security Actions tracked in Chapters Two and Five of the Pact) that specific Sub-Actions can garner momentum when they are championed by even a small number of diverse and committed governments.

By mobilizing broad-based political support and financial resources, providing technical and research-based inputs, and shining light on both progress and setbacks, the diverse ImPact Coalitions — backstopped by the Coalition for the UN We Need and working across the Pact for the Future agenda — can buttress the central leadership role of governments and international organizations in driving meaningful changes. In particular, their contributions are recognized in the run-up to this June-July's FFD4 Conference (Actions 4, 47, 49, and 52), the 2025 UN Peacebuilding Architecture Review (Action 44), and work on advancing AI and other cybertech cooperation (Actions 27, 29, and 33, and the Global Digital Compact Objective #5).

The Pact responds to detractors of the UN and other multilateral bodies by demonstrating that: a) a broad international consensus can be reached on urgent reforms toward making the global governance system "fit-for-purpose"; and b) initial steps toward delivering on these commitments from last September's Summit of the Future are beginning to bear fruit. The Pact can serve as a proxy for those governments and non-state actors seeking to invest in multilateral approaches for global problem-solving. Rather than increasing financial burdens or expanding international bureaucracy, many Pact Actions tracked in this report (including those associated with UN 2.0 technological and foresight applications) should align well with the Secretary-General's "UN80 Initiative" to "update the UN's structure, priorities, and operations for the 21st century." Conversely, the UN80 Initiative can help to advance the ambitions of the Pact for the Future by creating a more agile, cost-effective, and impactful multilateral system.