Legatum Foundation
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Type
Non-Governmental
Details

Bringing an Investor's Lens to the Philanthropic Marketplace
We apply the insights learned from over 30 years of investing in the global capital markets to our granting activities. This has led to our sector-based approach to granting and to developing a set of origination, due diligence, evaluation and reporting tools that allows us to track our grant portfolio's impact over time. Each grant is carefully considered to ensure that the implementing organisation is truly serving individuals in a manner which helps them unleash their productive potential.

1,480
PROJECTS
6
SECTORS
107
COUNTRIES
33
INITIATIVES
Andrew Doust
The fight against modern slavery
I was shocked when I first learned that 35 million people still live in slavery around the world. I had the opportunity to meet some of them on a visit to Northern India with the Freedom Fund, an organisation committed to abolishing modern slavery. A small group of us were invited to see first-hand the work of MSEMVS, an NGO, working to liberate entire villages trapped for generations in bonded labour. In the first village we visited, we encountered almost 100 men and women in debt bondage to a local stone quarry owner. Although the practice of debt bondage is illegal, it is still widely practiced. It was a harrowing experience to be confronted with the faces of modern slavery. I remember asking "If you could do something else with your life other than this what would it be?" So entrenched were they in slavery that they had no concept of freedom and little capacity to hope for a different and better future. For them slavery was normal. We all left feeling helpless and overwhelmed by their plight.

The next village we visited just 15 minutes away could not have offered a greater contrast. We were greeted with joyful songs about freedom, and the villagers couldn’t wait to share their story of escape from bonded labour and slavery. Three years earlier they too were enslaved in debt bondage with no hope of freedom. But with the help of MSEMVS they gained the courage and knowledge to act against the landowner (despite his threats and abuse) and secure their freedom. Today they are paid a fair wage for their labour, their kids attend school and they are no longer afraid. We left feeling encouraged and optimistic. It was a great jolt to urgent action. Slavery, illegal everywhere in world, can be beaten by supporting the efforts of organisations like MSEMVS and the Freedom Fund.The Legatum Foundation is the development arm of the Legatum Group, allocating capital at the bottom of the Prosperity Ladder to projects, people and ideas that create sustainable prosperity.

We are inspired by the belief that every life is of infinite value. For over a decade, we have funded thousands of small, community-based organisations across the developing world, addressing unmet needs by applying the insights learned from over 30 years of investing in the global capital markets. While the Legatum Foundation takes an investors' approach to philanthropy, ultimately our work is about improving lives and increasing opportunity. We do this by supporting small community-based organisations which are proven to be more effective at development work.

Whilst Legatum always focusses on achieving substantial "Life Change," supported by robust metrics, this is only "the good." The ultimate goal is to stimulate a paradigm shift in philanthropy, creating an open, transparent and vibrant marketplace with greater accountability and the more efficient allocation of capital: this is ‘the great’.

Phone Number
City
Dubai
Address
Level 2, Legatum Plaza Dubai International Financial Centre
Country
United Arab Emirates

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Anonymous | May 25, 2020
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