Not too long ago, plenty of worldwide organisations, together with UN businesses, have seen reductions in funding from a number of main donor international locations. This development is pushed by shifting political priorities, home finances constraints, and the reallocation of assets 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 notably essential. Companies not solely fill financing gaps, but additionally carry innovation, flexibility, and trendy instruments that public establishments usually lack. As international challenges resembling local weather change and the digital divide intensify, massive firms and personal organisations are anticipated to play an more and more very important function in supporting worldwide and UN programmes — notably in sustainable growth, humanitarian support, 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 assist a UN initiative: in 2024 his firm joined the UN World Compact, and Timur Turlov himself grew to become Chairman of the UN World Compact Advisory Committee in Central Asia.
“By means of Freedom Holding and our Freedom Shapagat Basis we’ve got 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 am 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 means of the Freedom Shapagat Basis, the holding has supported greater than 60 social and environmental initiatives, reaching over tens of millions of individuals.
- SDG 4 (High quality Schooling): the Freedom Block challenge at Suleyman Demirel College in Kazakhstan, AI laboratories, and grant packages for college students.
- SDG 13 (Local weather Motion) and SDG 15 (Life on Land): restoration of the Aral Sea, saxaul tree planting, combating desertification — a challenge as soon as additionally supported by USAID earlier than this system was dissolved.
- SDG 3 (Good Well being and Nicely-being): sports activities growth (Kazakhstan Chess Federation, QJ League) and digital insurance coverage merchandise.
- SDG 12 (Accountable Consumption): the Freedom Fandomats challenge for amassing plastic and aluminum for recycling.
- SDG 17 (Partnerships): cooperation with universities and worldwide foundations.
“I’m not an athlete, I’m an organizer. My activity is to assemble assets, construct a staff, and spur progress,” says Timur Turlov.
That is an entrepreneurial method to philanthropy: not one-off actions to spice up status — however systemic investments in human capital.
Freedom Holding embodies a worldwide development: enterprise is transferring from passive sponsorship to real partnership. Past cash, firms 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. “If you happen to preserve worrying and combating crises, you received’t construct something. You’ll want to dedicate time to creation, even when there’s all the time some ‘cosmic cruiser in orbit.’”
For him, social initiatives are usually not charity within the classical sense, however a continuation of enterprise — solely with a special system of values. “True wealth is created solely by expertise.”
From a sustainability perspective, which means a very powerful funding is in individuals — their well being, training, and skill to consider in themselves.
When governments step again, it’s enterprise that may assist humanity in its international objectives. The instance of Freedom Holding and Timur Turlov exhibits that even in instances of uncertainty, it’s attainable to construct long-term initiatives that profit many.
In the present day, philanthropy is not merely a gesture of goodwill however is turning into a type of strategic duty. And if firms method it systematically, then the Sustainable Improvement Targets may have an actual probability of success — even the place governments have already retreated.