The plenary dialogue between Bill Gates (left), President Tharman Shanmugaratnam (centre) and moderator Jennifer Lewis, strategic partnerships lead and co-head of collaboration and partnerships at Temasek Trust. Photo: Temasek Trust
During the same event, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who participated in a PAS panel discussion with Gates Foundation chair and trustee Bill Gates, warned that this global retreat from aid is unlikely to reverse anytime soon. Tharman, who is also the patron of the PAA, notes that “even with China stepping up, somewhat, there is a significant reduction in aid monies”.
In March, the Donald Trump administration cut over 80% of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programmes, which are responsible for providing foreign aid in areas such as health, education and economic development. These programmes spent “tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve”, said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a post on X in early March. Similarly, several European countries have reduced foreign aid to prioritise defence and domestic issues.
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Given these funding cuts, the world must maximise the value of every dollar, whether from public, philanthropic or private sources. “None of their own is going to be enough, but all three need a step up, not just in volumes, but in terms of effectiveness,” says Tharman. This means countries have to be more self-sufficient, although many still require international support through multilateral development banks (MDBs), bilateral schemes and so on, he adds.
Making a difference
While building up domestic tax capacity and running budgets more effectively is an “extremely important challenge”, it is not a hopeless case at all. “Many people don’t realise that in the lowest income parts of the world, several countries have significantly increased their tax collection, I’m talking about by two or three percentage points of GDP over the last decade,” says Tharman. However, he acknowledges that there is a “capacity issue”, in how countries can digitise tax systems, build up monitoring systems, enforcement systems and so on.
See also: ‘Green revolution’ needed to solve issues like food systems and nutrition, says President Tharman
Gates, whose foundation has disbursed a “little bit more” than US$100 billion in the last 25 years, agrees that the world may go through a “tough period” with the funding cuts.
Even so, he believes the world is unlikely to return to the child mortality rates seen at the turn of the century, when 10 million children died before the age of five, due to innovative tools such as new vaccines that protect girls from HIV and treatments that prevent maternal deaths from childbirth-related bleeding.
Even relatively modest investments can have a profound impact. Just a few thousand dollars that go towards bed nets or medicine for neglected tropical diseases can save lives. Even a gift of US$1 million “can make a huge difference,” says Gates, who is also the co-founder of software firm Microsoft.
Beyond making a difference for an important moral cause, Tharman sees broader economic returns from giving as well. Citing Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, every dollar given eventually generates US$54 in return and, beyond that, broader economic returns like healthier and more productive lives for everyone.
This is the type of thinking that should motivate the global public sector as well as philanthropic giving, he adds. “We’re doing this not just out of the goodness of our hearts. We’re doing this not just because it is an important moral cause, but because we are all better off living in a world where every country has populations that lead wealthier and productive lives. We are all safer and we are all better off.”
Philanthropy’s climate impact
Beyond public health, Asia remains severely underfunded in tackling climate change, says Ravi Menon, former managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and current Ambassador for Climate Action. Menon also serves as senior adviser at the National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS).
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The region’s annual funding gap for climate mitigation and adaptation exceeds US$800 billion, driven by factors such as insufficient public capital and a reluctance among private investors to commit.
The mismatch presents an opportunity for philanthropy to step up and play a larger role in driving climate action in Asia, Menon says. “A partnership across public, private and philanthropic capital and philanthropic capital can help effectively fill the gaps in Asia’s climate finance.”
Less than 2% of philanthropic giving is directed towards preventing climate change, and of that, only around 12% reaches Asia, despite the region’s outsized needs, Menon notes. Asia accounts for 50% of global emissions, and 90% of the world’s future growth in energy demand will stem from the region, he adds.
Asia will also suffer the most from climate change, with over one billion people in South and Southeast Asia being affected by the extreme heat by 2080. Asia’s climate-induced losses could also reach about 40% of the region’s GDP by 2100.
Philanthropists may leverage funding instruments such as blended finance to maximise the impact of their contributions. “The premise of blended finance is to use concessional capital to de-risk and crowd in multiples of commercial capital,” says Menon, who notes that the concessional layer from both philanthropic and public capital accepts first loss and lower returns, which then catalyses “significantly more” private capital. “Blended finance allows philanthropies to amplify the impact of their giving, because for every dollar they put in, they are crowding in multiples of private capital.”
Measuring outcomes
Philanthropy is also evolving in how it’s practised, with a new generation of leaders keen to see the impact of their contributions, says Tharman. While financial returns remain a consideration, these leaders are equally focused on the social impact they create, he adds. “They want to see a broader economic impact in the lives of beneficiaries. So I think that thinking has shifted, and it’s important now to develop the methods that allow us to measure impact.”
The Tanoto Foundation, for example, takes an evidence-based approach, identifying the root causes of issues it aims to address and investing in long-term change, says Belinda Tanoto, managing director of the Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) group and trustee of the Tanoto Foundation. Belinda is the younger daughter of Indonesian businessman Sukanto Tanoto, founder and chairman of RGE. Sukanto, along with his wife, Tinah Bingei Tanoto, established the Tanoto Foundation in 1981.
Belinda Tanoto, trustee of the Tanoto Foundation, says a key measure of the foundation’s success is whether others are joining them in championing the same causes. Photo: Tanoto Foundation
Formally launched in 2000, the foundation operates in Indonesia, Singapore, China and Brazil, countries that align with the family’s business operations. Its focus areas include education, early childhood development and other key social initiatives. “Our approach is different,” says Belinda in an interview with The Edge Singapore on the sidelines of the PAS, when asked about the shift in thinking among the next generation of philanthropists.
This generation is more inclined to collaborate with partners, pool resources, bring together their networks and engage with governments, she adds. At PAS, one example is the Tanoto Foundation signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Gates Foundation to jointly advance health, nutrition and education across Asia.
Collective action
Recognising that philanthropic funds are limited, particularly in Indonesia, where they make up just 0.5% of the government’s budget, compared to the global average of 0.5% of global GDP, Belinda emphasises that partnerships are essential for driving more meaningful change.
One such example is the foundation’s focus on investing in children’s early years and addressing stunting, a significant and complex issue in Indonesia, where no single funder can tackle it alone.
One funder may contribute expertise in innovative solutions, while the Tanoto Foundation, supported by a team of 150 in Indonesia, offers on-the-ground insight and strong relationships with local stakeholders, the government and funders, says Belinda.
Investing in the early years was a “big project”, where the foundation worked with global funders and trained front-line workers, she recalls. That resulted in a huge success, reducing Indonesia’s stunting rate from 31% in 2017 to 19.8% in 2024.
Another project which Belinda is “very excited” about is to support better frontline workers or human development workers, who are normally women, collecting data from the ground to ensure that each child gets the help they need.
When it comes to measuring success, Belinda sees it in terms of impact at the programme level. Reducing the stunting rate is one measure, while improving student learning outcomes is another. “For us, given that our desire is also to build the philanthropy ecosystem in Asia, a big part of how we measure success is also whether there are others that are coming with us to do it because we really want to [have] the catalytic and multiplier effect,” she adds.
While she acknowledges that it is often easier for the foundation to work independently, the organisation opts to collaborate with partners, recognising the importance of bringing other funders, whether global, regional or local, on the journey.
Belinda also sees that the changing global landscape will require philanthropists to not only step up, but also to work in a more efficient, targeted and productive manner.
To younger philanthropists, she urges them to “just start doing” the work, noting that things are constantly evolving. She adds: “The amount of tools that are available to philanthropists now with digitalisation and AI and data, it’s amazing. It really opens up a new possibility.”
It also helps that governments and other organisations are now more attuned to philanthropic work. “I still remember in 2009, if I talked to a government official, they thought I was between CSR (corporate social responsibility). It’s very confusing, but now they understand what philanthropy is,” says Belinda. “The openness of the government to partner it’s amazing. For the next generation philanthropist, I feel like the time is now.”
