As funding falls from the world’s richest nations, the role of philanthropy grows ever more important — particularly the Gates Foundation, which last year gave away $4.5 billion. But where did the money go?
Also in today’s edition: The U.S. State Department has a new strategy, but what does it mean for aid? And will U.S. funding be enough to save the United Nations from “imminent financial collapse”?
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Gates gives
The Gates Foundation gave $4.5 billion last year — a massive figure, but a lot less than its founder has ambitions to give. But where did the money go?
My colleague Alecsondra Kieren Si looked at the top grantees in Gates’ primary field — global health — as well as those in other sectors, and those in the global south.
Read: The top grantees of the Gates Foundation in 2025 (Pro)
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Funding activity
We publish tenders, grants, and other funding announcements on our Funding Platform. Here are some of those viewed the most in the past 10 days.
The African Development Bank has approved $3.9 million in funding to expand access to electricity across Africa.
The European Union is allocating €10 million ($11.8 million) to support digital transformation in Ukraine.
The Saudi Fund for Development has signed a $10 million grant to strengthen water supply systems and support communities affected by conflict and water scarcity in Sudan.
The United Nations Development Programme is inviting companies for the development and implementation of a digital ecosystem and e-commerce in Panama.
The World Bank Group has approved $350 million in new financing for social protection, economic empowerment, and digital transformation in Lebanon.
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Fragile state?
The U.S. State Department has a new strategy — one based on the “Donroe Doctrine” — a term coined to describe the Trump administration’s push to assert domination in the Western Hemisphere.
It will shift aid funding to the Americas and East Asia, with the amount rising from around 10%–15% of all spending to closer to 40% — although the strategy gives no dollar amounts, so it’s not clear how much funding to these areas will rise in practice.
Read: Trump’s ‘Donroe Doctrine’ redraws US foreign aid map
Going UNder?
The United Nations is in dire financial straits, Secretary-General António Guterres warns, despite larger-than-expected commitments from the United States in recent weeks.
The problem is that the United States, and others, have not paid their dues on time, meaning that the United Nations has not been able to deliver all the programs it committed to, and so it is required to give back the money it was due to spend on those programs — including money it hasn’t yet received — a situation described by Guterres as “Kafkaesque” in a letter to member states.
Read: US funding pledge insufficient to avert UN financial woes
No experience needed
The officials in charge of shutting down USAID want to hire more contractors to finish the job. But there’s one big restriction: You can’t be hired if you’ve worked for USAID before.
The decision has been viewed pretty dimly in some quarters of the community, with some suggesting that familiarity with an organization might be an advantage when shutting it down.
The move serves as “further proof of the incompetence of the people running the show now,” one expert tells Devex.
Read: USAID bars its own experts from agency closeout jobs
FH-bye
FHI 360 is one of the biggest operators in the field of U.S. foreign assistance, even after taking a big hit from the cancellation of USAID contracts. It’s been a busy few years for Tessie San Martin, who took the helm of FHI 360 four years ago, and she has now decided to step down. She’ll stay at the organization for some months as it finds a successor, a spokesperson tells Devex. She’s not retiring, but it’s not clear where she’ll go next.
Exclusive: Tessie San Martin to step down from FHI 360’s helm (Pro)
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About the author
David Ainsworth@daveainsworth4
David Ainsworth is business editor at Devex, where he writes about finance and funding issues for development institutions. He was previously a senior writer and editor for magazines specializing in nonprofits in the U.K. and worked as a policy and communications specialist in the nonprofit sector for a number of years. His team specializes in understanding reports and data and what it teaches us about how development functions.
