Development Co‑operation Profiles: LEGO Foundation
Table of contents
The LEGO Foundation is a Denmark-based private philanthropic foundation focusing on the development of children’s learning (mainly 12 and under) through play worldwide.
Its work supports early years education, parenting programmes, and work with ministries of education to bring playful learning into classrooms.
This profile presents verified data on development assistance allocation. See the Development Co-operation Profiles.
LEGO Foundation provided USD 177.5 million for development in 2023 through its grantmaking activities. Compared to 2022, this amount represents a decrease of 8.2% in real terms. Grants represented 100% of the LEGO Foundation’s gross disbursements.
In 2023, the LEGO Foundation channelled its bilateral development finance mainly through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) (USD 120.6 million).
In 2023, LEGO Foundation provided USD 20 million to the multilateral system, representing 11.2% of its total development finance. All these contributions were earmarked for specific countries, regions, themes or purposes. Almost half (49.9 %) of the total was channelled through United Nations (UN) funds, programmes, and organisations.
The UN system received USD 10 million from the LEGO Foundation in 2023. The most significant UN recipients were UNICEF (USD 7.9 million), WHO - Core Voluntary Contributions Account (CVCA) (USD 1.8 million) and UNESCO (USD 200 thousand).
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 120.6 million of the LEGO Foundation’s gross bilateral finance, of which 17% was directed to developing country-based CSOs. Overall, over half (67.9%) was earmarked to specific projects or programmes, while none of the contributions were allocated to CSOs as core support. From 2022 to 2023, the combined core and earmarked contributions for CSOs increased as a share of bilateral ODA, from 54% to 67.9%.
Learn more about the DAC Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid.
In 2023, LEGO Foundation’s development finance was primarily focused on Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. USD 68.7 million was allocated to Africa and USD 35.5 million to Latin America and the Caribbean, accounting respectively for 38.7% and 20% of gross bilateral development finance. A sum of USD 63.6 million (35.8%) was unspecified by region in 2023, mainly including multi-regional programmes, core support and research grants.
In 2023, 39.4% of gross development finance went to the top 10 recipients, most notably Mexico, Kenya and South Africa.
Least developed countries (LDCs) received respectively USD 8.9 million (5%) of LEGO Foundation’s gross disbursements in 2023. LEGO Foundation allocated the highest share (23.7%) of its bilateral development finance to upper middle-income countries in 2023, followed by lower middle-income countries (13.1%), noting that USD 103.3 million (58.2%) was unallocated by income group.
Furthermore, LEGO Foundation allocated USD 9 million of its development finance to landlocked developing countries in 2023.
In 2023, LEGO Foundation provided USD 3.2 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 25.6 million in 2023, representing 14.4% of LEGO Foundation’s bilateral development finance.
Learn more about the OECD States of Fragility platform.
In 2023, LEGO Foundation’s entirety of allocations went to social infrastructure and services. Investments in this area amounted to USD 114 million.
In 2023, LEGO Foundation committed the largest shares of its contributions to quality education (SDG 4), good health and well-being, (SDG 3) and reduced inequalities (SDG 10) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
Access the full list of providers at this link: Development Co-operation Profiles.
Official website: https://learningthroughplay.com
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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