The U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, were a top focus at the U.N. General Assembly’s 78th Session this year. The SDG summit, which is mandated to occur every four years at the beginning of UNGA proceedings, came at an important time.
Now at the halfway point to the target completion date set for 2030, progress is sorely lagging. Just two of the 36 targets for its 17 goals are on track — access to mobile networks and internet use. Twelve, including poverty and safe drinking water, showed limited success. And eight, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, are regressing.
In response, Secretary-General António Guterres launched a new phase of action intended to accelerated progress. The future approach, he said, must be “transformational,” and join all forces of government, private and public sectors — an inclusive multilateralism that’s “the best path forward to meeting the common challenges ahead.”
Success also involves finding the right actors, he emphasized, hinging less on big names from world powers and more on the people and places engaged in making change. Brushing aside the absence of some high-profile leaders this year from countries like Britain, France, Russia and China, Guterres said he cared more about the participation of representatives who can meet the moment to get the SDGs “moving in the right direction.”
Philanthropy, an increasingly important lever in realizing the SDGs, seemed to concur with Guterres’ thinking. Two examples of the most unified work presented during the UNGA coalesced around commitments that support a locally led approach to grantmaking, and democratizing citizen engagement to improve development outcomes.
This marked an extension of an ongoing theme we’ve seen in philanthropy and social change work in general during recent years — the sentiment that those on the ground are best suited to lead the way in solving the problems they face. Here’s more on how philanthropies like Ford, Hilton and Omidyar backed local work and the ideas and ideals of sharing power.
Locally led global development
Fifteen philanthropies aligned with USAID and 18 bilateral government donors to back locally led development this year — collectively endorsing the idea of shifting and sharing power, directing funding to local actors, and publicly advocating for local leadership in global development. The foundations signed onto the Donor Statement on Supporting Locally Led Development, which was originally endorsed by bilateral donors.
The endorsement follows a vision of international development that USAID shared in 2021, which directed at least 25% of its giving to local partners by the end of 2025. Global philanthropy has since coalesced around this approach to development, humanitarian and peace-building goals, which values local knowledge and lived experience.
The focus represents a growing sea change emerging throughout philanthropy, as advocates have challenged funders to shift dollars away from primarily large NGOs that are often based in the Global North and toward groups closer to the ground.
The 15 philanthropic signatories of the statement include the globally geared Fundación Avina, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, Ford Foundation and GHR Foundation, which partners with the Catholic Church and faith networks to meet global development challenges.
Two members of the Omidyar Group, a collective of social impact organizations, are also signatories. Trust-based leader Humanity United has long prioritized relationships and networks around the world, as does the philanthropic investment firm Imaginable Futures, which works to impact global learners of all ages and circumstances. Other commitments came in from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur, McKnight, Rockefeller, Skoll, Hewlett and Segal Family foundations.
The Council on Foundations (COF) has been a leader in the push to develop locally based philanthropy, championing meaningful partnerships with bilateral and multilateral aid agencies, and an increased percentage of grants that flow from U.S. foundations to local civil society groups globally. COF is offering resources that include research and tools, and a new Leadership Circle on Locally Led Development.
The heads of two Donor Statement signatories are serving as co-chairs of the leadership circle: Peter Laugharn, president and CEO of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and Nancy Lindborg, president and CEO of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. While no specific percentage was set by the group, both co-chairs made independent commitments to grow their locally led giving to 25% or more.
Saying philanthropy has “a responsibility to increase its direct funding to local organizations,” Peter Laugharn committed to directing at least 25% of Hilton’s international grantmaking to local organizations this year — a number it estimates translates to around $106 million.
Part of that work will be driven by a Partnership Teams Function it developed in 2019, which works to bring the “voices and experiences of grassroots organizations to the places where decisions are being made.”
Nancy Lindborg added that while locally led development has long been recognized as a necessary condition for durable development, the new commitment will “re-energize” a collective focus on strengthening local systems and leadership. She’s hopeful that the Packard Foundation’s government and philanthropy partnerships will meet and exceed the 25% threshold.
Democracy as a basis of local development
Another major initiative, the public-private Democracy Delivers Commitment to Action, mirrors a number of locally led development aims: shifting and sharing power, creating equitable partnerships with local actors, and encouraging active and inclusive decision-making to build capacity. Launched by USAID at last year’s General Assembly, it also holds that democracy provides the best conditions for increasing equity and improved development outcomes, and advocates for modeling citizen-state engagement and the values of democracy.
Democracy Delivers holds that philanthropy can play an important role accelerating change, through its long and deep relationships on the ground in places with a shared belief in human rights, accountable government systems, and elected leaders who stand against corruption in a set of high-priority countries: Armenia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Malawi, Maldives, Moldova, Nepal, Tanzania and Zambia.
This year, USAID announced $255 million in public-private support, $110 million of which came from private and philanthropic sectors. A dozen major donors answered the call to action. The initiative drew seven of the same donors as the COF initiative, including the Ford and Rockefeller foundations, which also partnered to co-anchor a “Democracy Delivers” event on the sidelines of the UNGA.
Ford committed $20 million over four years to the Commitment to Action. In a statement, President Darren Walker said the grants align with its “longstanding commitment to strengthening the pillars of democracy though civic engagement.” Specifically, Ford will fund openings for democracy through its continuing core work in the area, engage in new limited engagements in Moldova and Zambia that focus on civic engagement, and extend ongoing work in Tanzania and Nepal aimed at connecting “democracy-oriented” actors and grantmaking.
The other anchor partner, Rockefeller, announced intentions to allocate up to $28 million to support Democracy Delivers countries directly, and through existing partners like the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP). GEAPP’s supported work in Malawi, for example, will prevent energy outages through a pilot of 20 MW battery energy storage systems, as well as renewable sources for an Ag-Energy program for smallholder farmers. Another partnership with the Zambian government aims to reach 1,000 minigrids for rural electrification. Food security grants focus geographically on Malawi and Ecuador, and climate change impacts on vulnerable communities in Nepal.
Skoll committed to investing $16.9 million in health systems across 10 countries, including Malawi and Tanzania. Another $1 million is earmarked to create healthier information systems in places including Indigenous communities in Ecuador.
Other philanthropic commitments include $5 million over three years from Packard to expand civic space and the conditions of civic society, including $500,000 to back good governance. The Chandler Foundation committed up to $4 million to fight corruption and bolster democratic governance in target countries like Zambia, where it will work to strengthen state capacity to prosecute financial crimes and corruption. And $65,000 from the Tinker Foundation will align natural resources with community needs in Latin America.
Humanity United, a member of Omidyar Group, committed $1.5 million to support avenues like advocacy efforts for Dalit communities and workers in Nepal over the next two years.
Three corporate entities also stepped up. A $1 million grant from Google.org will help two partners enhance cybersecurity in Moldova. The Vodaphone Foundation committed up to $6 million over five years to boost maternal health in Malawi, seeding a $12 million broader coalition to expand the m-mama emergency care program nationwide. And the UPS Foundation will tap its networks and public-private partnerships in an effort to boost healthcare systems in Zambia and Malawi.
Two other philanthropies that supported both Democracy Delivers and the locally led initiative were the Conrad N. Hilton and Charles Stewart Mott foundations. Hilton committed to investing $10 million in Ecuador this year for programs ranging from infrastructure to early child development. Mott committed $11.2 million between now and 2028 to fund initiatives that build community justice in Malawi, community foundations’ capacity in Malawi and Zambia, and help scale climate change interventions in Tanzania. Another $3 million may be available to “reinvigorate’’ civic spaces in Democracy Delivers countries.
While the Hilton Foundation does not directly fund democracy work, its support for Democracy Delivers reflects its commitment to the geographies where its Refugees and Early Child Development programs operate — Ecuador and Tanzania.
But funders can draw connections between the two initiatives. “We do see locally led development and democracy as mutually reinforcing ideals,” a spokesperson from Hilton said. “While democracy provides the political framework for citizen engagement and accountability, locally led development operationalizes these principles at the grassroots level.”
Both programs echo the kind of “transformational” thinking Guterres called for. “After all,” said Kathleen Enright, president and CEO of the Council on Foundations, “local leaders know best what their communities need.”
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