Lately, quite a few worldwide organisations, together with UN companies, have seen reductions in funding from a number of main donor nations. This pattern is pushed by shifting political priorities, home finances constraints, and the reallocation of sources to nationwide wants. The White Home introduced President Donald Trump’s choice to withdraw the USA from UNESCO.
In such durations, the contribution of personal enterprise turns into significantly vital. Firms not solely fill financing gaps, but in addition convey innovation, flexibility, and trendy instruments that public establishments usually lack. As international challenges resembling local weather change and the digital divide intensify, giant companies and personal organisations are anticipated to play an more and more important position in supporting worldwide and UN programmes — significantly in sustainable improvement, humanitarian help, and local weather motion.
Kazakhstani entrepreneur Timur Turlov is a vivid instance of how enterprise takes on missions that governments more and more abandon. Because the founder and CEO of Nasdaq-listed Freedom Holding Corp., Timur Turlov didn’t simply formally help a UN initiative: in 2024 his firm joined the UN International Compact, and Timur Turlov himself grew to become Chairman of the UN International Compact Advisory Committee in Central Asia.
“By way of Freedom Holding and our Freedom Shapagat Basis we now have already launched initiatives in training, healthcare, local weather, and accountable consumption. However I consider that is solely the start,” he emphasizes.
Timur Turlov admits candidly: “I by no means had spare cash. I’m going to the market, borrow at 20%, and do charity work.” This isn’t a gesture of extra however a precept: one should all the time assist, even when it means taking dangers.
By way of the Freedom Shapagat Basis, the holding has supported greater than 60 social and environmental initiatives, reaching over hundreds of thousands of individuals.
- SDG 4 (High quality Schooling): the Freedom Block mission at Suleyman Demirel College in Kazakhstan, AI laboratories, and grant packages for college kids.
- SDG 13 (Local weather Motion) and SDG 15 (Life on Land): restoration of the Aral Sea, saxaul tree planting, combating desertification — a mission as soon as additionally supported by USAID earlier than this system was dissolved.
- SDG 3 (Good Well being and Effectively-being): sports activities improvement (Kazakhstan Chess Federation, QJ League) and digital insurance coverage merchandise.
- SDG 12 (Accountable Consumption): the Freedom Fandomats mission for gathering plastic and aluminum for recycling.
- SDG 17 (Partnerships): cooperation with universities and worldwide foundations.
“I’m not an athlete, I’m an organizer. My job is to collect sources, construct a staff, and spur progress,” says Timur Turlov.
That is an entrepreneurial method to philanthropy: not one-off actions to spice up repute — however systemic investments in human capital.
Freedom Holding embodies a world pattern: enterprise is transferring from passive sponsorship to real partnership. Past cash, companies can provide new devices — from inexperienced bonds to digital
providers that cut back social inequality. The Freedom ecosystem and its SuperApp can already function a platform for the implementation of SDG-related merchandise: from financial savings and funding instruments to healthcare providers in rural areas.
Timur Turlov is satisfied that even in instances of disaster one should keep centered on creation. “Should you preserve worrying and combating crises, you received’t construct something. You might want to commit time to creation, even when there’s all the time some ‘cosmic cruiser in orbit.’”
For him, social initiatives usually are not charity within the classical sense, however a continuation of enterprise — solely with a distinct system of values. “True wealth is created solely by expertise.”
From a sustainability perspective, which means that a very powerful funding is in folks — their well being, training, and talent to consider in themselves.
When governments step again, it’s enterprise that may help humanity in its international targets. The instance of Freedom Holding and Timur Turlov reveals that even in instances of uncertainty, it’s potential to construct long-term initiatives that profit many.
As we speak, philanthropy is now not merely a gesture of goodwill however is changing into a type of strategic duty. And if companies method it systematically, then the Sustainable Improvement Objectives may have an actual probability of success — even the place governments have already retreated.