Development Co‑operation Profiles: Arcadia
Table of contents
Arcadia is a family charitable foundation based in the United Kingdom, co-founded in 2002 by Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.
The Arcadia supports work to record cultural heritage, to conserve and restore nature, and to promote open access to knowledge.
This profile presents verified data on development assistance allocation. See the Development Co-operation Profiles.
Arcadia provided USD 121.4 million for development in 2023 through its grantmaking activities. Compared to 2022, this amount represents an increase of 194.2% in real terms. Grants represented 100% of the Arcadia’s gross disbursements.
In 2023, Arcadia channelled its bilateral development finance mainly through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) (USD 80.1 million) and universities, research institutes or think tanks (USD 41.3 million).
See the section on Geographic and thematic focus of ODA for the breakdown of bilateral allocations, including ODA earmarked through the multilateral development system.
In 2023, civil society organisations (CSOs) received USD 80.1 million of Arcadia’s gross bilateral finance, of which all was directed to international CSOs, while none of the contributions were allocated to developing country-based CSOs. Overall, 0.3 per cent was allocated to CSOs as core support, while 65.7% was earmarked to specific projects or programmes. From 2022 to 2023, the combined core and earmarked contributions for CSOs increased as a share of bilateral ODA, from 38.5% to 66%.
Learn more about the DAC Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid.
In 2023, Arcadia’s development finance was primarily focused on Asia (excluding the Middle East) and Europe. USD 23.9 million was allocated to Asia (excluding the Middle East) and USD 9.5 million to Europe, accounting respectively for 19.7% and 7.8% of gross bilateral development finance. A sum of USD 71.3 million (58.8%) was unspecified by region in 2023, mainly including multi-regional programmes, core support and research grants.
In 2023, 20.6% of gross development finance went to the top three recipients, which are Madagascar, Colombia and Indonesia.
Least developed countries (LDCs) received USD 8.3 million (6.9%) of Arcadia’s gross disbursements in 2023. Arcadia allocated the highest share (13.7%) of its bilateral development finance to upper middle-income countries in 2023, followed by least developed countries (6.9%), noting that USD 96.4 million (79.4%) was unallocated by income group.
Support to contexts with high and extreme fragility reached USD 8.3 million in 2023, representing 6.9% of Arcadia’s bilateral development finance. Of this, contexts with extreme fragility received a sum of USD 8.3 million.
Learn more about the OECD States of Fragility platform.
In 2023, Arcadia’s largest allocations went to multi-sector, with a strong focus on general environmental protection. Investments in this area accounted for 83.2% of bilateral commitments (USD 101 million). Bilateral contributions allocated to social infrastructure and services totalled USD 20.4 million.
In 2023, Arcadia committed the largest shares of its contributions to SDG 15 (life on land), SDG 13 (climate action) and SDG 14 (life below water) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Contributions to SDG 13 (climate action) totalled USD 101 million.
Access the full list of providers at this link: Development Co-operation Profiles.
Official website: https://www.arcadiafund.org.uk
The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including the grant-equivalent methodology, core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, country programmable aid, channels of delivery, bilateral ODA unspecified/unallocated, bilateral allocable ODA, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.
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