Development Co‑operation Profiles: Howard G. Buffett Foundation
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The Howard G. Buffett Foundation is a US-based private philanthropic foundation established in 1999 and chaired by Howard G. Buffett, son of Warren Buffett.
The foundation’s mission is to improve the standard of living and quality of life for the world’s most impoverished and marginalised populations. It allocates most of its funding to three key areas: global food security, conflict mitigation, and combating human trafficking in the United States. Its priority regions include Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Rwanda, Ukraine, and the United States.
This analysis only concerns activities targeting ODA-eligible developing countries. See the Development Co-operation Profiles.
Howard G. Buffett Foundation provided USD 457.9 million for development in 2023 through its grantmaking activities. Compared to 2022, this amount represents an increase of 85.8% in real terms. Grants represented 100% of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation’s gross disbursements.
In 2023, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation channelled its bilateral development finance mainly through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) (USD 385.6 million).
In 2023, Howard G. Buffett Foundation provided USD 10.2 million to the multilateral system, representing 2.2% of its total development finance. The entirety of these multilateral contributions was earmarked for specific countries, regions, themes or purposes and was channelled through the United Nations (UN) funds and programmes and other UN organisations.
The UN system received USD 10.2 million from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation in 2023. The most significant UN recipients were UNHCR (USD 8.9 million) and WFP (USD 1.3 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 385.6 million of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation’s gross bilateral finance, of which 21.8% was directed to developing country-based CSOs. Overall, only a minor share (2 %) was allocated to CSOs as core support, while 82.2% 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 0% to 84.2%.
Learn more about the DAC Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid.
In 2023, Howard G. Buffett Foundation’s development finance was primarily focused on Europe and America. USD 353 million was allocated to Europe and USD 94.2 million to Latin America and the Caribbean, accounting respectively for 77.1% and 20.6% of gross bilateral development finance.
In 2023, almost the entirety (99.8%) of gross development finance went to the top nine recipients, most notably Ukraine.
Least developed countries (LDCs) received USD 9.7 million (2.1%) of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation’s gross disbursements in 2023. Howard G. Buffett Foundation allocated the highest share (78.3%) of its bilateral development finance to lower middle-income countries in 2023, followed by upper middle-income countries (19.3%), noting that USD 1 million (0.2%) was unallocated by income group.
Furthermore, Howard G. Buffett Foundation allocated USD 7.9 million of its development finance to landlocked developing countries in 2023.
In 2023, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation provided USD 353 million of gross development finance to Ukraine to respond to the impacts of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Support to contexts with high and extreme fragility reached USD 53.7 million in 2023, representing 11.7% of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation’s bilateral development finance.
Learn more about the OECD States of Fragility platform.
In 2023, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation’s largest allocations went to production sectors. Investments in this area accounted for 45.7% of bilateral commitments (USD 186 million). Bilateral contributions allocated to social infrastructure and services amounted to USD 167 million. Humanitarian assistance amounted to USD 37.9 million.
In 2023, Howard G. Buffett Foundation committed the largest shares of its contributions to SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) and SDG 4 (quality education) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
Access the full list of providers at this link: Development Co-operation Profiles.
Official website: https://www.thehowardgbuffettfoundation.org
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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