The Laudes Foundation is a philanthropic foundation based in Switzerland, launched in 2020 as part of (yet independent from) the Brenninkmeijer family enterprise.
Advancing the industry-changing work of the C&A Foundation, the Laudes Foundation envisions global markets that value all people and respect nature, an economy in which industries uplift all who participate in them and regenerate and restore nature as a fundamental part of what they do.
The Laudes Foundation provided USD 26.4 million for development in 2022 through its grantmaking activities. Compared to 2021, this amount represents a decrease of 46.9% in real terms.
In 2022, the Laudes Foundation channelled its development finance mostly through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society (USD 17.1 million), universities, research institutes or think tanks (USD 2.8 million) and private sector institutions (USD 2.5 million).
In 2022, the Laudes Foundation provided USD 0.3 million to the multilateral system, representing 1% of its development finance, all of which was earmarked for specific countries, regions, themes or purposes.
UNICEF was the recipient of these multilateral contributions by the Laudes Foundation in 2022.
In 2022, civil society organisations (CSOs) received USD 17.1 million of the Laudes Foundation’s gross development finance, almost all of which was earmarked for specific projects or programmes. A share of 41.9% of these contributions were provided to NGOs in donor countries, while 37.1% to NGOs in recipient countries.
Learn more about the DAC Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid.
In 2022, the Laudes Foundation’s development finance was primarily focused on Asia (excluding the Middle East) and Latin America and the Caribbean. USD 8.5 million was allocated to Asia (excluding the Middle East) and USD 8.1 million to Latin America and the Caribbean, accounting respectively for 32.1% and 30.5% of gross development finance. A sum of USD 8.2 million (31%) was unspecified by region in 2022, mainly including multi-regional programmes.
In 2022, 55.7% of gross development finance went to the top 10 recipients, most notably Brazil, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Indonesia and Pakistan.
Least developed countries (LDCs) received USD 4.2 million (15.8%) of Laudes Foundation’s gross disbursements in 2022. Laudes Foundation allocated the highest share (29.5%) of its development finance to upper middle-income countries in 2022, noting that USD 11.7 million (44.3%) was unallocated by income group.
Notes: LDC: least developed country; LIC: low-income country; LMIC: lower middle-income country; UMIC: upper middle-income country; MADCTs: more advanced developing countries and territories.
Support to fragile contexts reached USD 4.8 million in 2022, representing 18.3% of the Laudes Foundation’s development finance.
Notes: HDP: humanitarian-development-peace. The chart represents only gross bilateral contributions that are allocated by country.
In 2022, 59% of the Laudes Foundation’s contributions were allocated to social infrastructure and services, 30.3% to production sectors and 8.9% to multi-sector such as general environmental protection. In terms of sectors, the Laudes Foundation’s largest allocations went to other social sectors, such as labour rights and social dialogue (USD 15.5 million), agriculture, forestry and fishing (USD 6.5 million) and general environmental protection (USD 2.4 million).
In 2022, the Laudes Foundation committed the largest shares of its contributions to decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), reduced inequalities (SDG 10) and peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG 16) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Support to gender equality and women’s empowerment amounted to USD 6.4 million. Contributions to combatting climate change totalled USD 13 million.
Official website: https://www.laudesfoundation.org
The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, the Sustainable Development Goal focus of private development finance, channels of delivery, unspecified/unallocated allocations, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.