Advancing Inclusive Prosperity through Philanthropy–Multilateral Partnerships (HLPF 2026 Side Event)

Well, colleagues, we're going to now begin our side event. Executive Secretary Alice Chavana. Excellencies, colleagues, good afternoon, and it's an absolute pleasure to welcome you to today's side event, which we are organizing on the margins of High-Level Political Forum 2026 on Advancing Inclusive Prosperity Through Philanthropy Multilateral Partnerships. My name is Maria Chipurina, and I lead on external relations in the Office of the UN Secretary-General. And as you can see, I will be your moderator for today's discussion. We have a true power panel here with us today, with representatives from member states, the United Nations system, philanthropy organizations, and also international financial institutions. And colleagues, thank you so much to all of you for joining us today for this very exciting discussion, which actually shows that partnerships are no longer optional. They are essential to how we do development, how we ensure that we deliver for impact and for results, and that we generate long-term impact. And to begin the program, I have the pleasure of inviting Under-Secretary-General Alicia Bana, Executive Secretary of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific to deliver her opening remarks. Executive Secretary, the floor is yours.

Thank you very much, Maria. A very good afternoon to Excellencies, distinguished participants, colleagues, and friends. Welcome to today's side event on Advancing Inclusive Prosperity Through Philanthropy, multilateral partnership. We are very pleased to co-organize this event with the Executive Office of the Secretary-General and the Institute of Philanthropy. At ESCAP, we have been engaging with philanthropies and private sector foundations in multiple ways. Indeed, they have been our donors and collaborators spanning various areas of works in advancing sustainable development, in particular in our region, Asia-Pacific. In topics such as inclusive business, trade, investment, energy transition, and many more. In February this year, we hosted a dialogue on the sidelines of the 13th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development, that is the Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, to discuss the future of sustainable development, which brought together consolidated regional perspective, progress and priorities into the Global Review of the 2030 Agenda at HLPF. Our dialogue reaffirmed a set of key points on the roles that broadly UN or development partners, including ESCAP and philanthropies, could play to enhance cooperation for sustainable development. From our perspective, our role is to serve, as a trusted and neutral convener, creating enabling conditions for dialogue, alignment, and collective action. We facilitate regular and structured exchanges, including among philanthropic actors, and provide platforms for knowledge sharing and transfer, notably through South-South and triangular cooperation. It also supports the identification and incubation of thematic initiatives, with the potential to be scaled across the region, helping to translate dialogue into tangible system-level outcomes. From the perspective of philanthropy, their role is also evolving in significant and constructive ways. Philanthropic actors are increasingly contributing data, evidence, and forward-looking insights on the changing global— for example, on the changing global financial landscape as well as other issues. They are helping to strengthen coherence between development programming and broader economic and investment priorities while playing a catalytic role in fostering innovation. This includes supporting the development, testing, and scaling of new approaches and business models that can complement and enhance the impact of multilateral efforts. In this regard, both ESCAP and philanthropies bring unique institutional structure and expertise to the table. The broad conclusion of our dialogue so far is to take the time to discuss and identify the mechanism through which initiative of common priority can be co-created. Today's event is a natural continuation of this discussion. Furthermore, for countries in our region, many are very much interested in learning about innovation, good practices, and proven methods from each other through South-South cooperation, or so-called peer learning, and targeted technical assistance in areas where they lack expertise. In this regard, we work as facilitators of these areas of our competence. This moment also reflects a broader transformation in the development landscape, marked by a growing diversity of actors, more complex financing models, and deeper cross-sector collaboration. This shift is not only inevitable but increasingly central to how development is conceived and delivered for member states across our region. In today's side event, I encourage you to share your feedback and opinions openly. Look forward to your insight as we discuss the challenges we face, as well as the opportunities before us and how we can further work together. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you, Executive Secretary, for such a thought-provoking introduction. I now have the pleasure of introducing His Excellency Mr. Rashed Al Mahmud Chittumir, Advisor to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh on Finance and Planning, to deliver his opening remarks.

Thank you. Thank you, Miss Moderator. Thank you, Executive Secretary, distinguished organizers, honorable participants. Bangladesh welcomes this timely conversation on how philanthropy and multilateral partnership can advance inclusive prosperity. This is particularly important at a time when we are off track in our SDG implementation. Philanthropy can be a useful vehicle to reach our destination if we want to trust in whole-of-the-society approach. I would touch upon 3 contextual realities and I will come up with 3 suggestions for advancement of the initiative that UNSCAP and the UN Secretary-General's Executive Office has in mind. First, we have a rich tradition, but they are unsung heroes. If you really look at the development that we have witnessed over the years in achievements of education, particularly, you would see how the collective actions has contributed in building the infrastructure of education, particularly in Bangladesh and in South Asia and many other places. Because it's the collective action, not through public money but private contribution, they have made it possible in terms of having primary schools, high schools, secondary institutions. We hardly talk about them, but these are people, ordinary citizens, who have contributed and made these available. So this is an avenue that we must really recognize in order to have a whole-of-the-society approach, because this brings ownership, This helps us in advancing to having an inclusive process because there are plenty of examples in Indian subcontinent to many places where citizens have contributed in building these educational institutions, but hardly they are recognized, particularly in modernization literature. So let's really recognize the contributions of millions and billions of people in setting up these public institutions. Secondly, we consider public sector as an important vehicle in terms of providing public goods, but equally it is important to have recognized the role of the private sector because they are the engine of growth in most of the developing countries. How do we bring them in partnership in AIDS disease and related issues? That's quite an important issue that we must explore and come up with processes. And I understand this is one of the reasons to host this dialogue. Equally, we see an unequal world. During COVID when as disease goals were regressing, then we have seen multinational corporation, corporation amassing huge amount of windfall profits. And there are a lot of discussion and we all understand There are many ways through which this— there are unequal societies dividing inequality and that has not helped us in achieving SDGs. So how do we really have participation of private sector into development? They are already contributing because they are creating jobs. But equally, how do we create a system in which they also contribute and in terms of having a transparent process which can help us reduce inequality? There are innovations like CSRs, but we need to have more. And if you really look at, we see plenty of magazines which really celebrates this wealth generation, which is fine, fair enough. But what is also equally important is to really how these can contribute to the development processes. And the third one, which is really important, Because as we are in this current landscape, we need to really talk about— yes, national governments can come up with processes through which private sector can contribute in different processes, including the fiscal incentives, but as we are are embarking on a transitional fluidity and while multilateralism is at stake in some areas, how do we really make sure that these transnational corporations— and there is a role for multilateral organizations like UN as well as in the geographic regions these commissions and they have the convening power to really bring them into the development processes. Now I'll finish by proposing 3 initiatives that UNESCAP and other geographical commissions, economic and social commissions can do, because as we know, a lot of development discussion originated from the regional commissions and they have a rich history and there are many UN bodies who were set up because of the recommendations coming from these economic and social commissions. So UNSCAP can lead the process in terms of 3 areas where we can work on. Say the first one is obviously it has to be aligned with the national priorities and national strategies. And from Bangladesh's side, we have this 5-year strategic framework where we are providing different incentives so that the private sector can join as a part of the inclusive process, as a part of the whole-of-the-society approach, and we have come up with different fiscal incentives so that the private sector can contribute not only through their CSR but beyond that in terms of academia-industry collaboration and many other processes. But definitely we can learn from the processes from other countries because peer-to-peer learning can help us realize more. That's one. The second one and relating to how do we synergize the convening power of multilateral organizations and philanthropic initiatives together, because both— we all agree that we want to see an inclusive society. We want to see that inequality isn't widened, rather regressed, while we could achieve as disease. So there could be many— there could be task force and others where— because we can't really— a national government can't really do in a society where there are other initiatives of UN where we have seen that tax initiatives and other areas. So we need to really harness that convening power of both global level as well as the regional level. And the third one, which is really important, and there we need governance reforms because the transactions have to be transparent, accountable, and tangible because we lack that and there are these— there are And as you know, that because of the tax avoidance, if we could harness the amount of tax avoidance, tax exemption, that could help the SDG achievement a lot. But unfortunately, we are not being able to walk the talk. And finally, we must— and I will end by that point— This is not about shedding responsibilities, because what we have seen in the name of innovative finance, in the name of private sector, the role which is even 0.7% of the GNI has not been performed by many countries. So this is not an alternative to that. This is an additional to that and we have seen how those unkept promises, particularly I am coming from a country because of this Middle East conflict, because the government is accountable to the people, we can't adjust to oil prices as an economist would suggest. We have to count up to 30th June $3.46 billion additional cost, but I don't see any movement in multilateral framework and that's where our task is. We need to act because this is not our fault. But the citizens of Bangladesh had to endure that $3.46 billion, which is equivalent to normally almost the size of an IMF program. So more debt, more cost, and more uncertainties. And more poverty. And I'm sure here I have colleagues across the continents coming from different countries and different continents would really also work on those areas. How can we really work when there are uncertainties, when there are regression in SDGs? And not words, not oaths, not should, but shall. Let us act. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Your Excellency, thank you for those incredible, tangible, and also action-oriented proposals, which I may say in this early afternoon hour really felt like a double shot of espresso. So thank you for this.

I don't have any double shot. I would very much look forward to it.

So to set the context for our in-depth discussion, I'm very happy to invite the co-organizer of this side event and Secretary-General and a good friend, I would say, Brian Sun of the Institute of Philanthropy. Institute of Philanthropy is Hong Kong-based think-fund-do tank, and it's dedicated to strengthening the philanthropic ecosystem, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, and it also works a lot with the Commission on Asian Philanthropy. And Brian and I have often found ourselves part of the same conversations on how to make philanthropy stronger, how to make our partnership between philanthropy and multilaterals better, much more action-oriented, and also how to make sure what is being done. And this also goes back to the points His Excellency Tutu Mir was referring to. We do have strong country-level implementation and partnerships and how we can further strengthen them. And today, Brian will share key insights and reflections on the evolving ecosystem in his region and how it's advancing inclusive prosperity. Brian, welcome to New York. Thank you so much for joining us in person. Over to you.

Thank you so much, Marianna, and thank you so much, Executive Secretary, Your Excellencies and Your Excellencies. It's wonderful to be here. We did not sync up with His Excellency Tutu Mir just now, but you will see uncanny alignment in what I'm about to share. As Marianna mentioned, I'm from the Institute of Philanthropy. We were set up by the Hong Kong Jockey Club. For those of you who may not be familiar, the Jockey Club is the largest philanthropic foundation in Asia in terms of annual giving. It is a public lottery funder, runs Hong Kong horse racing and sports wagering. The club's mandate is to be a local funder, and so where we come from, our institute, is really to make impact internationally beyond the shores of Hong Kong and really on a regional and global scale. We are here with our colleagues from the Asia Philanthropy Congress, my good friend Masato Seko, The Congress was established by the Nippon Foundation, which was by volume the next largest philanthropic foundation in Asia. And together we have put together this Commission on Asian Philanthropy and Balaji and a few friends here as well to help us understand the full scale of what Asian philanthropy is about, how it can contribute more, how it can work better with public sector, with multilaterals. And so what I wanted to do today was to give a very brief introduction to our work. What I would say is the source material is maybe Asian, but the learnings are definitely global, and looking forward to a really, really enriching conversation today. But first, let me share some context, and I have the benefit of a few visual aids today. Asia, where a lot of our work is based, is home to 60% of the world's population. We count Asia from the Near East to the Far East, so we say, so West Asia to Japan. It is a tremendous— it has tremendous and increasingly demanding social needs. I won't list them all. But it is also a region that has significant and growing wealth. And so we see it as a place that has growing wealth on one hand and tremendous and growing needs on the other. And so our question really is, how do these come together to make greater impact? Which leads us to this— great effort that we've put together called the Commission on Asian Philanthropy, which is an effort to reimagine what the future of Asian philanthropy should look like in this particular time with all the challenges that we face. And together with the Asia Philanthropy Congress, we have brought together 13 of Asia's most influential foundations: Hong Kong Jockey Club, Nippon Foundation, the Temasek Foundation out of Singapore, King Khalid Foundation, Uth Sayyed, Tata and Piramal, Tencent, Yaasan Hasana, Kasikorn Thai, and a few more. Essentially, the leading domestic players in their jurisdiction that are able to rally the rest of their jurisdictions as well. And there are a few things that I wanted to share about what we found. And first, when we speak about— it's just a little bit of context— when we speak about Asian philanthropy, it is not monolithic. If anything, it is defined by being very diverse and pluralistic. And let me share just a few examples of what we see come out in the different jurisdictions. If I start from Japan on the right, Japan, the first to industrialize and a longer timeframe for building wealth, and like many countries, the population is aging.

Mm-hmm.

And so one of the biggest opportunities for growth in philanthropy and therefore for us to think about is sequestered wealth in dormant accounts and dormant assets from the aged population as one of the key growth areas and potential for philanthropy, very similar to what you see in the likes of the UK, which has done that and tapped into dormant accounts from big society capital. Next, we have China and India. And for both of them, as Cecilia was just saying, and very common across Asia, one thing they share is a belief towards a move towards much more inclusive societies as a main national goal. Common prosperity in China, Viksit Bharat in India. And in that, philanthropy has a role to play in national development goals, and that's something that is a very explicit goal that philanthropy has. In China, much of the philanthropy being corporate, for example, very strong alignment with national priorities. And corporates play a major role. In India, with the advent of the CSR law where 2% of income must go towards CSR, increasingly towards these areas of major national priorities. Moving west to Middle East to West Asia, we find that a different form of giving, faith-based giving, is what plays such a strong role. Zakat, waqf, and the different forms of Islamic giving. Moving to Southeast Asia, where I think many of our Excellencies are here from, all of these types come together: community, faith-based, corporate. And lastly, with the financial hubs, Hong Kong and Singapore, likes of UAE, wealth concentration into family offices, family foundations, and that is driving a lot of the innovation and risk capital from that side. And so when you see, you have this great geographical diversity, but when we put together, we find that there is not one model of philanthropy, but 5 main typologies. And at this point, I just want to— I have 3 points on this page for our further discussion and reflection for the rest of today. We have the 5 types: community-led, faith-based, state-led, corporate-led philanthropy, including CSR, and business family-led. And so my first point is that recognizing these different models, each of these models has different objectives, different goals, different constraints. And so when we think of multilateral partnerships, of how philanthropy can work better with the UN, with multilateral development banks, etc., government, public sector, That looks very, very different depending on the type of model. Partnering with a community foundation, partnering with a zakat institution, very different to a high net worth. Different speed, different constraints, but very, very, very types of different assets. And so we should take advantage of the different types of assets that they bring, which leads me to my second point. And if you sort of look on the left, you'll see that under each of the models, It lists the capabilities that the model brings, which are non-monetary. Often, that is equally, if not more valuable, than the money itself. If I take faith-based giving and actually the whole faith-based giving architecture, in Indonesia during COVID the government partnered with the faith institutions went through the mosques for vaccine distribution and delivery and achieved a much more rapid rollout in weeks. And that was the trusted last-mile delivery of the community and the faith-based architecture that enabled that, not the money. Take China. One of the biggest growth areas of— in Chinese philanthropy in the billions of dollars over the past decade has been the trend towards the mass digitalization of giving. Companies like Tencent, their contribution to philanthropy is not their balance sheet, it's not their CSR, but actually the usage of their tech platform, their corporate assets, how Tencent has used the entire WeChat messaging ecosystem to gamify giving, to encourage mass participation in the billions and billions of dollars, exactly as His Excellency was saying, really this whole-of-society community approach to giving and encouraging a lot more participation. Take India, lifting over 37 million out of poverty in Bihar state alone through self-help groups, which, seeded by our friends at the World Bank and this Indian state entity, Ujjwala, and philanthropy together, creating these self-help groups which enable much more efficient last-mile distribution, changing how rural women access credit, and really lowering the cost of delivery. And so as we think about these partnerships, I would encourage us to think today of not just the money, but these vast capabilities that these networks bring as well. Which leads me to my third point on the right end I wanted to share is actually the relative scale of philanthropy. And sometimes there is a temptation to think of philanthropy as the private foundations, which are very important. A lot of our research on the numbers— and I can't officially share these numbers yet as we're still finalizing, we will publish in September— but some of So the early indications, one thing we find in Asia, for example, is that ultra-high-net-worth foundations, actually less than 5% of giving by volume, less than 5%. Mass individual giving, exactly as he was saying, the community, that's over half, over 50% is mass individual through community, through faith-based giving. Corporate, 24%, 25%. That's right. So when you think of the major movers, it is in the community giving, it is in the faith-based giving, it is in the corporate giving, and when we think about partnerships, it's that scale that we really want to bring to the table. And so just my last page on— and a lot of our aim today is how do we increase both the quantity as well as the quality of capital? A lot of our work with this Commission on National Philanthropy increasing the quantity is finding what we call these billion-dollar ideas that have shifted philanthropy in the billions of dollars in one jurisdiction, in one member state, and how they might be able to be transferable in some way, shape, or form to others, whether that is mass digitalization in China, whether that has been the experience with the CSR law in India, whether that has been institutionalization of zakat giving in the likes of Indonesia, fantastic initiatives, Not perfect by any means, but ripe lessons for us to think about how that total pool quantity of philanthropy can increase. After that, it's about quality. How do these— through these capabilities, these non-monetary capabilities, often much more valuable— lead to faster, better, cheaper outcomes, lead to better involvement of different community actors and this whole-of-society approach? And so, that really is the focus of our work. That's what keeps us busy. And thought that— wanted to share that as a conversation starter for today. Thank you so much once again, and really looking forward to the rest of the discussion. Thank you.

Brian, thank you so much for sharing this knowledge room by room, country by country. I think it's extremely important. And also, those great ideas as to how we can increase philanthropic giving in terms of both quantity and also quality, making it not just acupuncture points for our societies, but a much stronger actor in the overall development architecture. And I do think that presentations like this help us build longer tables like this one, not just higher walls, so it's very important. And this is also what our panel discussion would be about today. And we have a fantastic power panel sitting around this table joining us with Ambassador Giorgio Marapodi, Ambassador of Italy, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Mr. Masato Seko, Senior Advisor, Asia Philanthropy Congress, Mr. Alberto Anfossi, Secretary General, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, Maria Dimitriado, Special Representative of the World Bank to the United Nations; Mr. Álvaro Díaz Duque, Deputy Director-General of the Directorate for European Development Policies, Spain; and Ambassador Vidya Sadnovic, Deputy Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the United Nations. I would now like us to shift from the Asian region to the European one, and to start with a question to Ambassador Marapodi. Ambassador, thank you first of all for joining us, and we would love to deep dive into the Italian philanthropic ecosystem and your vision on this. So to begin our discussion, the first question would be, Italy has a very well-developed community foundation ecosystem with a lot of local philanthropic institutions that are helping both grantmaking but also building hands-on capacity when it comes to regional or local-level development. How do you see this shaping and what are your perspectives on this?

Yes, thank you. Well, let me say first that, I mean, I found the discussion that we have had up to now very Interesting, very inspiring, actually very enriching. These are always opportunities, I think, for all of us to learn something, to learn more. And I would like to start saying, even drawing from what I heard, that the more and more I'm convinced that we need from our governments a generative approach, something that is really able to go beyond, I would say, not even— not only the traditional recipes of assistance, aid, development cooperation, because I think that these are not traditional anymore nowhere. We have had over the years very innovative approaches. We have tried to change what we do to involve more and more actors. But I think that this research has to go on, has to continue, because time is— the times we are living in are changing so fastly, so they require us to be adapted, a capacity to adapt that we did not experience in in the past. But one lesson is that government alone, we know that they cannot deliver that transformation, that transformation which is required for the achievement of the SDG, because what we need is not only financing, but it's a stronger ecosystem of partnership built around trust, shared responsibilities, and local leadership. Italy believes that philanthropy can play a catalytic role, not as a substitute for public development cooperation. I want to reassure my friend from Bangladesh, we don't— we go— it's the goal of the 0.7% is always there, and we all We all hope that we can achieve that once, but Italy is a strategic partner capable of mobilizing additional resources, fostering innovation, strengthening institutions, and scaling up solutions with lasting impact. Our experience with community foundations offers offer one important lesson, and the most successful partnerships are those that start from places rather than projects. Community foundations do not simply provide grants. They bring together local authorities, civil society organizations, business, and citizens around shared priorities while investing in local capacity and institutions over time. The strength lies not only mobilizing financial resources but in mobilizing relationships. And you were mentioning, yes, the multilateral system. I think that for multilateral institutions, I believe that this approach, the Italian approach, can bring a new an important message. Local ownership cannot be treated as a procedural requirement or a box to tick. It must become the organizing principle of partnership from their design to their implementation. Sustainable solutions emerge when communities are empowered to define priorities, build capacities, and lead change themselves. We have seen some of these examples. Gavi, for example, the Vaccine Alliance, to which Italy has been an enthusiastic contributor since the very beginning, is bringing together governments, UN agencies, philanthropic foundations, the private sector, civil society, And they have shown how collective action can expand access to life savings— to life-saving services while strengthening national systems. And this is precisely why Italy continues to believe also in the central role of the United Nations as the platform where governments, philanthropy, international organizations, the private sector, and civil society can work together under a common framework. Many, many actors, many people too many times are talking of the funeral of the UN. I think that this is still far away from us. As the Secretary-General said many times, the United Nations were here and they will be here even after this critical times. And, uh, and also, as President Mattarella said, I mean, it's, uh, there is no alternative to the UN, to the UN system. In these days, I want to— I don't want to take too much time, too much time. And in these days, Italy is also presenting the 3rd voluntary, uh, the 3rd voluntary national review, uh, engaging young people, local authorities, civil society, we sought not only to report on SDGs implementation, but also to what is our vision for the 2030 Agenda itself. And for us, the participation is not merely a consultation exercise, but it is an essential component of effective governance and more sustainable development outcomes. I conclude saying if philanthropy and multilateralism are to deliver transformative, generative results, they must move beyond financing individual initiatives and invest instead in institutions, local leadership, lasting partnership, as we are trying in some measure to do in African countries with our Matei Plan. Sustainable development is ultimately built not project by project, but partnership by partnership, community by community, and I think that this is the approach that we are trying to implement. As Italy, this is what we are trying to bring with our national review, and this is what we want to continue to explore also in the future. Thank you. Thank you.

Grazie mille, Your Excellency, and thank you for pinpointing to the importance of trust, trust in building those partnerships. And on this, I would very much welcome the vision of Masato Seko, because as we can see, there is a lot when it comes to building those partnerships step by step, but we also know that partnerships between multilateral institutions and the philanthropic ecosystem can sometimes be quite hard to actually build, and collaboration is not as easy in practice. What is your opinion on this, and what can be done more?

Thank you very much. First of all, I'm very privileged and honored to be part of this conversation. Discussion. I represent an entity called Asia Philanthropy Congress, which is an annual convening that brings together leaders, Asian philanthropy leaders. It's an annual thing in Japan that we convene, and as I mentioned by Brian earlier, we are also serving as a co-convener to the Commission on Asian philanthropy and the details has already been explained by Brian, so I will not go too much into details. But responding to your question, I believe the greatest barrier to effective collaboration is that the strength and distinct nature of philanthropy are not always fully recognized by international organizations. That leads to the absence of clear framework to bridge the fundamentally different nature of philanthropic capital and public development finance. To understand how we can build this missing framework, it is important to look at philanthropic capital from 2 perspectives: first, its volume, and the second, its nature. So first, on the volume of capital, philanthropic capital. When we speak of philanthropy, we define it as private grants and charitable giving, distinct from market-driven capital. Today, commercial funding is entering the social sector through sustainable finance and impact investing, driven by corporations and institutional investors. At the same time, international organizations deploy vast resources through official development assistance and public finance. Compared to these commercial funds and traditional ODA budget, philanthropy is small in terms of volume. Well, the numbers vary depending on the study and the region, but philanthropy given generally ranges from 0.1% to 0.5% of GDP. And even in the highest case, such as the United States, it reaches only about 2%. So this means philanthropy is simply not meant to finance the large programs run by international organizations. With this relatively small volume, it operates on fundamentally different logic. The second, on the points of nature of this capital. Philanthropy cannot match commercial capital or international organizations in volume. As I mentioned, the size is too small. But its true value lies in a completely different dimension: the ability to take on risks, the markets and governments cannot. So regular investments demands financial returns. International organizations, on the other hand, operate under strict public mandates and rely on contribution from member states. These institutions bear the responsibility of managing state resources, a public trust that demands high standard of fiduciary duty. Meaning they cannot afford to risk these funds on unproven models. On top of that, when international organizations are bound by the core principle of universal equity to provide broad, balanced coverage across populations, philanthropy has the distinct flexibility to concentrate its resources on specific high-risk interventions or absorb initial risks by taking a first-loss position. Importantly, this flexibility allows philanthropy to fund and establish a proof of concept where success is not initially guaranteed. So in short, effective collaboration requires a structured framework that connects these distinct and complementary roles. To effectively utilize philanthropic capital, the global dialogue should move beyond the mere rhetoric of filling financial gap to structurally integrating philanthropy's role based on its volume and distinct nature, as I mentioned earlier. Establishing such a structured approach is exactly what is needed today. And it is precisely why we are raising this issue through our committee, our commission that we are running with Institute of Philanthropy to ensure that philanthropy capital is strategically positioned within the global agenda, including discussion on the post-SDGs. So thank you very much.

Thank you, Massaro. Very insightful. And I think it really kind of pinpoints some of the pain points that we do have in some of our engagements. Over to Alberto Anfossi, Secretary General from Datena Companhia de São Paulo. Alberto, in your opinion, what does it actually take, looking kind of at a similar question but from a different perspective, to make our cooperation smooth and successful.

Thank you, Maria, Executive Secretary, Excellencies, distinguished colleagues. I would like to start from a different angle to stress the fact that philanthropy can also be considered a further channel for, you know, dialogue and cooperation among states and among private sector. For example, when you are thinking about a new project or a new activity, philanthropy can be a further channel where you can create a common ground, for example, to fund common projects in both countries, in both territories, and go beyond what is the first level of discussion, say. What we are experiencing more and more is this paradigm of the 4 Ps, so public, private, and philanthropic partnership, where of course you need clarity of roles for all the actors. And what was mentioned in the opening remarks the role that philanthropy can play in innovation, for example, and there I think it's paradigmatic because there you can see the 3 tools, basic tools that a philanthropic foundation can bring to the table. So grants, of course, so money that is given away; investments, so we can use our endowment in a part of of it with an expectation of maybe lower returns but with impact return, and then competencies that can go through capacity building, as has already been said, but also through the direct contribution of foundations, for example, in the innovation domain to develop ecosystems. It is something that we are experiencing, for example, in our country and in our region in Piemonte and Torino. Of course, foundations have specificities. It's already been said by other previous interventions. In Europe, probably even more than in Asia and the Pacific area, where Foundations are very old. Compagnia di San Paolo, for example, was founded in 1563, you know, so in the Middle Ages. And we have a lot of legacy. And there are different approaches in different countries and according to the constituency of the foundation, if it was created by a single individual or by corporation or by the government and so on. So of course we have to acknowledge that to discuss and engage from the multilateral institutions with foundations can be very difficult because, I mean, there is a fragmented ecosystem. And so I think that the most important ingredient is the leverage effect. So the fact that the money that the Foundation can put into a project or a common undertaking should create a leverage effect with a high impact, because of course the level of resources is negligible to get a direct effect. Effect on phenomena. But if we can find together, partnering with these multilateral institutions, projects or processes where the philanthropic money can enable a leverage effect, then it's the way, I think, the most effective way to deploy the philanthropic money. And to conclude, of course, as always, trust is playing— plays a very crucial role because the interaction with foundation, I think also with multilateral institutions, must be a long one, a long, far-reaching one. So something that you have to build step by step. and probably will bring the most, not in the first years, but in the long run. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Alberto, and thank you for reiterating this important word, trust. I would now like to turn to Maria, World Bank. World Bank has been mentioned already by Brian as one of the examples. of some of the things that have been happening in partnership with philanthropy. And what would be very interesting for us is to hear more about the latest work of the World Bank on this topic, what you are doing with philanthropy to deliver more and better at country level, and also what have you been innovating and what is still work in progress.

Thank you so much, Maria, for giving me the Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you, Mr. President, for the floor, and thank you to you, our colleagues and friends in the UN, and also the Institute for Philanthropy for the kind invitation to contribute to this really important discussion. Excellencies, dear colleagues, I will add to the excellent remarks that we have heard so far on the development landscape. Yes, it has changed. We know public budgets and fiscal space is under pressure. ODA is falling in many parts of the world while needs are growing. But let me add another very important development challenge that is not only a development challenge, it's also a security and growth challenge, and that is that over the next 10 to 15 years, 1.2 billion young people in emerging developing economies will be entering the labor market, and with current economic prospects, there are jobs for about 400 million. This is a very important gap to close. Our answer at the World Bank Group is organized around 3 pillars: investing in infrastructure, physical and human, policy, governance, and business-enabling environment, and mobilizing capital, private capital at scale through guarantees, risk-sharing, equity, and other tools that bring investment where jobs can be created. So to deliver on this agenda at the urgency and scale that is needed, it's important more than ever to align policy, financing, and partnerships, avoid fragmentation, focus on outcomes and work as a system, as we heard. So we have heard very well from our colleagues on the nature, the volume, on the added value of philanthropy, and I think it was very eloquently described by all previous colleagues. What are we doing in the World Bank Group to shape our philanthropic engagement strategy accordingly to this needs reality, but also the complementarity of our First, we are shifting from one-off transactions towards strategic partnerships with philanthropy, building stronger relationships and bringing philanthropic partners in early to co-create at the design stage so that priorities and delivery models are shaped together. That's the starting point. Second, we are organizing collaboration around time-bound, target-focused missions and country platforms. Our mission-driven approach brings partners together around clear, measurable goals anchored in country-led compacts so that ambition and execution are shaped together from day one. You have heard about Mission 300, our initiative to provide access to electricity to 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, working with the African Development Bank. Earlier this week, our water team here presenting Water Forward, where with other MDBs and our development partners, we aim to provide water security to over 1 billion people around the world. These are all by 2030. So this is what I mean by mission-driven approaches focused on country-led compacts. The third part of our strategy is that we are engaging philanthropy across the capital stack. So philanthropic partners contribute through upstream technical assistance that helps build pipelines, Catalytic or risk-bearing capital that can unlock investment, private investment, and ecosystem support that accelerates delivery. And this talks to all the modalities and typologies that we heard previously by Brian and Masato. Philanthropic actors are, from what we hear from our colleagues, are asking not only where their money can be spent, but how their capital can unlock something larger. So used well, philanthropy helps prepare the ground for investment, reduce risk, and mobilize much larger flows of public and private finance and much larger impact. It goes way beyond the financing. In terms of mission-driven partnerships in practice, Mission 300 that I just mentioned is a very strong example. It sets a bold, time-bound target on providing access to electricity. electricity to 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. And to engage philanthropic partners, we have created multiple entry points, from technical assistance accelerators that support government energy access programs to vehicles like SAFIRI, which provides patient equity to companies that are advancing distributed renewable energy solutions across Africa. And philanthropy has also helped deliver national energy compacts. These are the countries own plans. These are their own plans. They are not bank documents. So philanthropy has helped in the delivery of energy compacts by strengthening government delivery units and embedding technical fellows within ministries, talking about, you know, the broader support. Instrument-wise, throughout the ECOSOC, to connect a little bit with what we have been discussing in New York, a lot has been discussed this year around the financing for development cycle on blended finance as a key instrument, and where the World Bank Group, through our international finance cooperation colleagues, have contributed through our expertise and through our track record. IFC has been at the forefront of blended finance for over 2 decades, using concessional and increasingly philanthropic capital alongside our own financing to mobilize private investment in markets and in sectors where risk has historically been constrained in terms of commercial participation. So what philanthropy has helped do is become— they have become increasingly strategic partners and they have helped provide catalytic capital, technical assistance, and convening power to extend our reach and impact. So for us, scaling philanthropic engagement in blended finance is not about one-off contributions. Contributions, but rather partnerships that mobilize private capital at scale and create markets. Health was mentioned as an example. Perhaps I can bring an example of agriculture, where the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme Private Sector Window, combined with philanthropic-enabled blended finance with foundations like Gates, has helped de-risk agribusiness investments and crowding IFC private capital at scale, and it follows a platform-based approach to leverage investments over time. So let me conclude because I'm conscious of time. We know that this more strategic approach of engagement of the World Bank Group with philanthropic partners can work. We focus on development outcomes together. We align our efforts and we use our complementary strengths to multiply eventually not only financial resources but our impact on the ground. Thank you.

Thank you, Maria, for this in-depth analysis and also, like, very, very interesting examples. Alvaro, in your work, in your work in Spain, in your work on development cooperation, where do you see philanthropy fitting in this overall equation?

Thanks a lot for giving us the floor, and thanks a lot to SCAAP and the Institute of Philanthropy for what we believe is a really timely discussion. Well, at the moment when countries face growing fiscal constraints, rising debt vulnerabilities, climate pressures, and widening development financing The question is no longer whether philanthropy has a role to play in sustainable development, but how can we better leverage its unique strengths through effective partnerships with governments, multilateral institutions, and local actors. This is very much in line with the vision agreed at the 4th International Conference for Financing for Development in Seville, and we believe that the Compromiso de Sevilla recognizes the need to mobilize all sources of finance to build stronger partnerships across public, private, and philanthropic actors. It also highlights the importance of catalytic capital innovation and collaboration with multilateral development banks to help close the SDG financing gap. The latest OECD report on private philanthropy for development provides compelling evidence of the growing contribution that philanthropy can make. Between 2020 and 2028— 2023, sorry— philanthropic contributions to development amounted to $68.2 billion US dollars, which is equivalent to around 10% of total ODA during the same period. The report also shows that philanthropy is particularly well placed to provide flexibility, take calculated risks, support innovation, and mobilize additional resources for sustainable development. Spain particularly welcomes these findings, as we are particularly encouraged to see that the report identifies Spain as the world the 3rd largest philanthropic provider, largely reflecting the impact of Spanish philanthropic institutions working internationally. One remarkable example is the BBUF, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Microfinance Foundation, which according to this OECD report accounted for the most philanthropic flows to Latin America and the Caribbean, providing approximately $5 billion in financing between 2020 and 2023. This demonstrates how innovative philanthropic models can contribute to financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, and economic empowerment at scale. Spain is also proud of the contribution of La Caixa Foundation, one of the leading philanthropic organizations in Europe, whose work in social inclusion, education, health, research, and international cooperation has generated significant impacts over many years. At the same time, I would like to stress that Spanish philanthropy goes well beyond these well-known institutions. Spain benefits from a diverse and increasingly dynamic ecosystem of foundations, social investors, family foundations that are making— family foundations, corporate foundations, and community-based initiatives that are making important contributions both domestically and internationally. This OECD report also points us toward some important priorities for action. First, we should strengthen the catalytic role of philanthropy by expanding participation in blended finance and pooled funding mechanisms capable, capable of mobilizing additional public and private resources. Second, we need to promote stronger partnerships between philanthropic actors and national and local institutions, ensuring that development efforts are increasingly locally led, locally owned. Third, We should support greater collaboration between philanthropy, governments, multilateral development banks, and development finance institutions to scale proven solutions. Fourth, we should leverage philanthropic capital strategically as a catalyst for poverty and inequality reduction, following the recommendations of the OECD Guidance on Reducing Poverty and Inequalities through development cooperation. In this sense, private philanthropy is growing and typically concentrated in social sectors. We believe that development partners can encourage philanthropic flows to drive their interventions to tackle poverty and inequality reduction. Finally, we need stronger platforms for dialogue, transparency, and matchmaking that can connect philanthropic resources with development priorities and investment opportunities. This is precisely the type of partnership orientated approach that the Compromiso de Sevilla seeks to advance. Let me conclude by emphasizing that the SDGs will not be achieved by any single actor working alone. Governments, international organizations, development banks, civil society, the private sector, and philanthropy each bring different strengths. Our challenge is to build the partnerships that allow these strengths to reinforce each other, and Spain stands ready to support this effort and to continue working with all partners to build a more inclusive, effective, and collaborative financing ecosystem for sustainable development. Thank you very much.

Fascinating. Thank you so much, and thank you for highlighting the importance of working hand in hand and also, of course, the important Compromiso de Sevilla. Definitely such an amazing roadmap for all of us. I would now like to ask Ambassador Vidija Sadnović, Deputy Permanent Representative representative of Indonesia to share his remarks on this discussion, probably going back a little bit more to the Asia-Pacific region.

Thank you. Thank you very much for convening this meeting. I'm really enjoying the presentations and I would like to quote some of them in my presentations, but let me start with a story. In 2009, after the 22 days military offensive in North There is only one regional hospital and its floors are overflowing. There is a small group of volunteers from Indonesia called MERCI, or Medical Emergency Rescue Committee, an Indonesian grassroots NGO, and then when they came back to Jakarta, they are committed to build a new hospital in Gaza.

Thank you.

They face a daunting reality. They need $9 million for these hospitals, and they committed that they will not ask foreign donors, they will not wait for state treasury budgets, and they will ask the Indonesian people. What follows is one of the most remarkable mobilizations of civil society. The campaign transformed into a national movement. In massive cities, major organizations like Muhammadiyah and the Indonesian Red Cross open their networks. In rural villages, Islamic boarding schools organize charity markets. Primary school children, street vendors send their donations. The hospital built by— not by a few wealthy tycoons, it's built by collective pocket change of millions of ordinary Indonesians.

Thank you.

In 2011, they start the development. Because it's too dangerous and logistically impossible to hire international firms, a group of Indonesian engineers and construction builders volunteer to move to Gaza. The Indonesian government, we mostly send our financial support through UNRWA. Or WFPA, but for this hospital establishment, we provide the political support and to ensure and to remind everybody that this is a sanctuary built entirely by the charity of the public for humanitarian survival. Unfortunately, last year, this hospital is closed as a result of severe damage from the last conflicts. So what we are learning here is that philanthropy can build institutional care, but those institutions need protections, political support, and also multilateral cooperation to survive. I'm interested to learn from the Asian philanthropy when we talk about the Southeast Asian characteristic when most of our philanthropy usually are faith-based, but I think there's an evolution to that. We are seeing now corporate-led and also business family-led philanthropy. So what we can do, I think, across Asia and the Pacific to connect the social energy with the rich convening power and technical capacity of regional and multilateral Institutions, including the United Nations. We can see that philanthropy can be flexible; they can focus on humanitarian assistance. They can operate cross-border to difficult regions, even to political sensitive and security dangerous places. But they are also innovative. We can see, for example, in Indonesia and I believe in other places, they really benefit. And also maximize the digital platforms to wider their support, also involving youth and also to ensure that this whole society approach. One thing that the philanthropy organizations' strength is a local network, a local basis, also the global impact. They are very much, I think, aware of the global challenges on disaster management, humanitarian, health, environment, etc. When we combine, they can help move partnership from fragmented project towards system-level impact to help achieve the Agenda 2030. In our region, it is felt through the shared vision of the ASEAN community. This is also where the South-South triangular cooperation becomes important. Countries in our region have many practical experiences to share, from community health systems and disaster resilience to digital giving, education, and inclusive finance. In most of our projects, the government also works with philanthropy because they have this knowledge from the ground, they have the innovations and and creativity that are needed from different regions to other regions. One thing that I would like to stress, and I think one of the panellists have mentioned, is that philanthropy is not a substitute of the global commitment of official development assistance. The ODA remains essential, particularly for developing countries, least developed countries, small islands developing states, it should complement, not replace, a public commitment. Going forward, we see several principles for more effective cooperation: alignment with national priorities, transparency and accountability, stronger engagement with local actors, predictable partnerships rather than one initiative, one-off initiatives, and better use of data to measure impact. The UN system in this regard can leverage its convening power and support efforts in synergizing different initiatives to concerted efforts. If we can bring together this power of communities, the innovations of philanthropy, and the legitimacy of multilateralism, we can build partnerships that are not only well-funded but also trusted and inclusive as well as transformative. Thank you.

Thank you. I have to go, if you excuse me.

Absolutely.

Thank you very much, Ambassador, and thank you for pinpointing to the importance of this complementarity of different fields. We now have just a couple of minutes for 2-3 questions from the audience. We can have a few. Please, when presenting yourself, Give your name, your affiliation, and ask either a short question or a short comment, mindful of the time we have before the end of this discussion. Are there any questions from the audience? We have one, please.

My name is Alejandro González.

I represent a social and a political organization that works with young people all over the world and professionals. So my question is, as countries face fiscal And climate-related changes, how can partnerships between philanthropies and multilateral organizations ensure that the strategic historical system is not overlooked as a critical investment for reducing healthcare inequities and promoting inclusive economic growth?

We can take another question, one or two, please. And if you would want to come to the microphone so the online audience, which I hear is very numerous, can also hear you. No problem.

Hello everybody, this is Hoi from Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundations, or in Indonesia, Yayasan Buda Tzu Chi. I do have a question for Brian and also maybe for Maria. So we know that India has a 2% CSR and also Islamic structure has the 2.5% for zakat. So when it comes to philanthropy in Buddhism, what are the common quantifiable metrics used to measure the impact? Thank you.

We could take one more question if there are any. If not, I would now invite our amazing panel to provide their short responses to those questions. Who would want to start? I know one of the questions were directed specifically to Brian. Brian?

Yes, I'm happy to take the one on impact measurement. And I think one thing we've noticed is that while there is a diversity in the sources of philanthropy, whether it's faith-based, and definitely Tzu Chi, a very, very substantial player within that field and doing fantastic work. The actual interventions and the causes are quite common, so whether it's impact measurement in different domains— health, education— very possible to have within each of the domains the impact that that creates. I think one thing that I'd like to encourage is moving beyond the project level, and one thing we struggle a lot with, Philanthropists, and I'm sure many other sort of larger institutional and sort of state-led organizations as well, is how to allocate resources across multiple domain areas. And that really is a big sort of focus of what we spend a lot of time thinking about, like how do you measure education versus health versus culture, etc. I think this is where the voice of the community must really come in, and so much of philanthropy is to be able to create that sort of self-sustaining work for the community so that we can encourage helping themselves, we can encourage surfacing of the right impact rather than something top-down. It's something that we build localized and Thank you, Brian.

Maria?

Thank you so much for these excellent questions. The World Bank Group has, as part of its reform process over the last 2 years, also created a new scorecard, which you will find online, where you can also see the targets that I mentioned on Mission 300, on water, on Agriculture and AgriConnect. So we— when I mentioned previously that we shape our partnerships based on time-bound, mission-driven initiatives, this is all at the end of the day measured in terms of how many people we are reaching in terms of these targets. So the early engagement with philanthropies to co-create, to co-design, and collectively with the World Bank Group, with other MDBs, with philanthropies and other partners in including the UN, has to do with delivering on these concrete KPIs, these concrete scorecard indicators that are measured at the country level, and they are structured around the plans of countries. In terms of the importance of investing in human capital, this is— I stressed it previously, and it's expressed also in the very valid point that you made— this is indispensable in terms of investment to create more and better jobs. foundational infrastructure for growth and poverty eradication. So I totally agree, and in health terms, it's also an area where our engagement, longstanding engagement, with philanthropies has demonstrated incredible results that we are building on.

Please, Your Excellency.

If I may just respond to the questions, we know that now, I think, financially is under pressure, basically, from public and private. I think there are several things that we can work. One thing is, of course, the strengthening of policy framework, because in different countries, I think including Indonesia, we have to strengthen our policy framework, for example, on how to provide incentives for the philanthropy. So this is something that we can do. Secondly, I'm listening to the World Bank on how to strengthen capacity of the philanthropy on de-risking. And also make analysis better. Another thing is also to align with global goals. I think this is quite important because the philanthropy, the government, and also multilateral or regional institutions could work together when there's alignment of goals, whether it's in development, poverty eradication, or other things with clear parameters. The last thing is to move from short-term projects to long-term commitments. I think this is something more important. I think although there are financial pressures, there are some modifications that could be made instead of short-term projects that are offered. That's my 5 cents on this. Thank you.

Well, I think there have been several gems in this discussion, so thank you so much to the panelists and also to our audience for very interesting and insightful questions. To provide us with the closing remarks, I would now invite Hongpeng Liu, who is Director of ESCAP's Energy Division, to deliver them.

Thank you, Maria. I'm mindful about the time, so I will just make it short. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, as we conclude today's side event, I would like to express my appreciation for all of you, the thoughtful and forward-looking reflections shared by experts, your expertise, and your contributions have underscored not only the diversity of philanthropic engagement, but also a strong convergence around the need to rethink how partnerships deliver impact at scale. Several important themes have emerged. We have heard a clear call to move beyond isolated initiatives toward approaches that support long-term systematic transformation. This includes strengthening national systems, supporting locally driven solutions, and fostering innovation through collaboration. It also reflects a shared understanding that no single actor can deliver on the ambitions of the 2030 Agenda alone. Encouragingly, today's discussion also highlighted a growing willingness to rethink how collaboration happens in practice. The emphasis on joint learning, coordinated action, and more intentional alignment of resources points to a shift towards partnerships that are not only broader, but more strategic and resource-oriented. This aligns closely with ESCAP's role as a regional platform that brings together governments, philanthropies, and development partners to exchange knowledge, co-create solutions, and advance collective progress. So in this context, ESCAP's Energy Transition for Green Growth and Prosperity, we call ETGDP, initiative offers a compelling example and a good practice of how such partnerships can be operationalized. Launched in 2026, early this year, the initiative supports countries in accelerating clean energy transitions while advancing economic growth, job creation, and social inclusion. So what makes this model particularly relevant to our discussion is how it integrates multiple dimensions of collaboration. So this initiative combines analytical work, institutional capacity building, regional cooperation, and financing strategies to help countries translate ambition into implementation. It works across ministries and actors and the different sectors and supports the development of investable project pipelines and also helps mobilize finance at scale. So in this way, ETGDP illustrates a broader shift in how partnerships conceived not as standalone collaborations side by side, but as part of interconnected ecosystems where different actors contribute distinct but complementary strengths. We got great support from those foundations for this initiative. So this initiative also shows how regional platforms can help bridge national priorities with global agendas, creating the conditions for more coherent and scalable impact. So I would like to thank all distinguished speakers for offering rich and forward-looking insight that have helped the ground for our discussion in both experience and ambition. So looking ahead, today's exchange has reinforced that achieving the 2030 Agenda will require sustained partnership, openness to new ways of working, and a shared commitment to delivering results at scale. So ESCAP stands ready to continue working with all of you to translate today's ideas into practical cooperation and to ensure that philanthropic perspectives are meaningfully integrated into regional and global processes. And finally, I want to thank all of you once again for your engagement, your expertise, and your continued dedication. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Excellencies. Thank you to our amazing Power Panel. This was fantastic. A lot of things taken away from this. I also want to say a big thank you to the colleagues behind the scenes who have actually been able to make this event possible. Zeynep, Ingrid, Fidel, Dia, Sebastian, Vicky, they would recognize themselves. So thank you so very much and wishing everyone an excellent end of the week.

Thank you.

And also thank you, Maria, for your moderation.