Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
International hotelier Conrad N. Hilton established the grantmaking foundation that bears his name in 1944 to help people living in poverty and experiencing disadvantages worldwide. Today, the work continues, concentrating on efforts to ensure healthy early childhood development and sustainable livelihoods for youth, support young people transitioning out of foster care, improve access to housing and support services for people experiencing homelessness, identify solutions to safe water access, and lift the work of Catholic sisters. Additionally, following selection by an independent, international jury, the Foundation annually awards the $2.5 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize to an organisation doing extraordinary work to reduce human suffering.
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation provided USD 137.7 million for development in 2021 through its grantmaking activities. Compared to 2020, this amount represents an increase of 96.2% in real terms.
In 2021, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation provided USD 7.1 million to the multilateral system, representing 5.1% of its development finance, all of which was earmarked for specific countries, regions, themes or purposes.
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation channelled its multilateral aid through the United Nations and the World Bank Group.
The United Nations (UN) system received USD 2.1 million from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in 2021, notably UNICEF (USD 1.1 million), UNDP (USD 0.5 million) and UNHCR (USD 0.5 million).
See the section on geographic and thematic focus for the geographical and thematic breakdown of bilateral allocations earmarked through the multilateral development system.
In 2021, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation channelled its contributions mostly through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society (USD 109.5 million) and universities, research institutes or think tanks (USD 9.3 million).
In 2021, civil society organisations (CSOs) received USD 109.5 million from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s development finance. A share of 2.3% was allocated to CSOs as core support, while 77.2% was earmarked to specific projects. Most of this finance was channelled through international and donor country-based CSOs.
In 2021, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s development finance was primarily focused on Africa and, to a lesser extent, also the Americas. USD 89.4 million was allocated to Africa and USD 17 million to America, accounting respectively for 64.9% and 12.3% of development finance. A sum of USD 27.2 million (19.8%) was unspecified by region in 2021, mainly including multi-regional programmes.
In 2021, 52.3% of development finance went to the top 10 recipients. The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s most significant recipients included Ethiopia (USD 11.9 million), Kenya (USD 11.1 million) and Uganda (USD 10.1 million). Moreover, 30.7% of development finance was not allocated by country.
Least developed countries (LDCs) received USD 55.9 million (40.6%) of Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s gross disbursements in 2021. Moreover, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation allocated 19.9% of its development finance to lower middle-income countries and 8.8% to upper middle-income countries, noting that USD 42.2 million (30.7%) was unallocated by income group.
Furthermore, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation allocated USD 1.4 million to small island developing states (SIDS) in 2021, equal to 1.1% of its development finance. This included the Foundation’s activities in Haiti.
Fragile contexts
Support to fragile contexts reached USD 67.3 million in 2021, representing 48.9% of Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s development finance. Of this, extremely fragile contexts received a sum of USD 3.0 million.
Learn more about support to fragile contexts on the States of Fragility platform.
Sectors
In 2021, more than three-quarters of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s aid was allocated to social infrastructure and services. Investments in this area accounted for 79.9% of the foundation’s commitments (USD 135.4 million), with a strong focus on support to health (USD 47.8 million), water supply & sanitation (USD 35.6 million) and education (USD 26.9 million). Humanitarian assistance amounted to USD 22 million (13%) in 2021.
Sustainable Development Goals
In 2021, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation committed the largest shares of its contributions to goals on reduced inequalities (SDG 10), good health and well-being (SDG 3) and clean water and sanitation (SDG 6). of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Support for gender equality (SDG 5) amounted to USD 27.6 million.
Official website: https://www.hiltonfoundation.org/
The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, the Sustainable Development Goal focus of private development finance, channels of delivery, unspecified/unallocated allocations, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.