Financial statements for the year ending 31 December 2018
The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) has submitted its second set of annual accounts to Companies House and they are published today, Thursday 3rd October 2019, on this website.
In 2018, we continued to invest in our people and projects, with our work in 14 African countries being the biggest area of growth. The increase in income was particularly pronounced in relation to activities carried out in Africa, with funding for our activities on the continent almost doubling, increasing to $17.2m.
These accounts, the second since the strategic coming together of three organisations, show the Institute to be in a healthy financial position: the turnover was $45.2m and a surplus of $3.5m has been reinvested into the organisation. Total reserves were $9.3m at the reporting date compared with $5.8m last year.
TBI is a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to make globalisation work for the many by helping countries, their governments and their people address some of the most difficult challenges in the world today.
Tony Blair is the sole owner and Executive Chairman of the Institute, and, as set out in the Articles of Association, he receives no remuneration for his work at TBI, to which he devotes at least 80% of his time.
TBI operates globally and therefore many of its activities are paid for, and planned, using US$. The presentation of our financial statements in US$ most fairly reflects our economic activities.
The Institute’s overarching aim is to support governments on the path of reform and modernisation: to alleviate poverty, raise standards of living, foster religious and cultural tolerance, advance peace and reconciliation, support progressive policies and seize the opportunities of the technological revolution.
Support and inform those on the frontline of politics with practical policy solutions to rise to the challenges while mitigating the risks of globalisation and the rise of populism.
We promote co-existence and countering extremism by tackling the ideology behind acts of violence.
Support political leaders and governments to implement progressive changes and reforms.
Foster Arab-Israeli dialogue to promote a regional approach to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Our people
These accounts show an average total of 213 staff, who are based in 14 African nations, the UK, the United States, United Arab Emirates, Serbia and Israel. Our diverse workforce, comprising more than 35 different nationalities offers a wide range of expertise and experience.
Gender balance is incredibly important to us and we are proud that 55% of our employees are women, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operations Officer, and our board is 50% female.
Our work and objectives
Governance
We are partnered with 14 governments across Africa, helping build their capacity to improve living standards for their citizens.
Our projects focus on establishing the skills, systems and structures at the centre of government to ensure effective government leadership and coordination, driving economic reform, strengthening the private sector and business environment, facilitating foreign investment, building key infrastructure and improving the delivery of public services. This work has the potential to help 510 million citizens.
In 2018, we focussed on consolidating our existing projects as well as looking at several other opportunities in countries where the Institute is gaining an understanding of the local context and political dynamics necessary to provide our unique, tailored advice to leaders on how to accelerate delivery of their public policy and development priorities. We recruited 29 new members of staff, who joined our various Africa teams during the year, bringing our staffing numbers in Africa to 77 – including 12 staff members supporting our programmes in Africa from our London head office.
We also began preliminary work for the first time in the Sahel region, primarily with the Government in Burkina Faso. The Sahel region is one of the world’s poorest and at great risk from climate change. Spanning the breadth of the continent, the region is subject to extreme poverty and conflict.
With the region’s rapidly expanding population compounding these challenges, strong government is needed now. Tony Blair has spoken about this issue on a global stage, raising awareness of the region’s plight and the international response required. TBI will launch a new Sahel programme, sharing our insights and experience in governance, to support the region’s governments and inform the international community.
In 2018, we initiated work with 6 partners, including the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). At the AGRA annual forum, AGRF, held in September in Kigali, TBI held several events with Tony Blair giving keynote speeches underscoring the importance of agriculture to the African continent.
Tony Blair continued to visit and monitor progress in our projects, meeting with heads of government both in their countries and elsewhere on the global stage
Co-Existence
TBI’s co-existence work focusses on promoting co-existence and countering extremism by tackling the pernicious ideology which gives rise to extremist acts.
The team conducts research on extremist ideologies including Islamist extremists and the far right, online and offline extremism, Boko Haram’s insurgency and Shia Islamism. In September 2018, TBI launched its unique ‘Global Extremism Monitor’, which included the geo-coding of individual acts of violent extremism and efforts to counter it across the globe. The Monitor found that in 2017 at least 84,023 people died in 66 countries from acts of Islamist extremism. TBI’s work has given rise to actionable insights, including the role that women play in violent Islamist groups and the execution of attacks, as well as the disproportionate number of victims from Muslim–majority states. Research informs the support given to leaders and governments around the world, including the role states should and could play in countering extremism. While security measures will always be vital, unless decision makers act to counter extremist thinking, violence will continue to spread.
These insights also shape the focus of TBI’s programmatic and advocacy work.
Compass is a mentoring project that supports young women to break down some of the barriers faced by minority groups in British society and build inclusive communities, resilient to destructive ideologies. This year saw the recruitment of 76 mentors who supported 144 young women across four London boroughs. Since its inception, the project has reached 244 young women, and will be extended to its first location outside of London in 2019-20.
Generation Global, a pioneering global education programme for 12 to 17-year-olds, in its ninth year, and to date has reached more than 500,000 students around the world. Operating in more than 35 countries, it equips teachers and their students with dialogue skills and resources that cultivate critical thinking and open-mindedness in young people. In 2018 it reached more than 109,000 students – an increase of 39,000 on last year - and continued to build its government relationships, including working with the Ministries of Education in Jordan and Italy, as well as several states in India. TBI is working with government partners and the UN to put on the global political agenda a new Global Commitment to Promote Global Citizenship and Prevent Extremism, through education. The Commitment will set out global principles to inform the development of education systems that root out religious prejudice and promote open, global, tolerant societies.
Our Supporting Leaders programme is designed to build the skills and capacity of religious and community leaders to identify and tackle religious extremism through counter-narratives and practical community action. In 2018, we worked with our local partners to deliver training to 156 religious leaders in Nigeria. We also helped co-design a pilot project to replicate Supporting Leaders in Kenya from which we secured funding to train 40 religious leaders in 2019.
Middle East
Our work in the Middle East supports a regional approach to the peace process, one which fosters Arab-Israeli ties, ensures the viability of a future Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel and supports modernization in the Arab world. Our reports focussed on promoting regional cooperation and identified opportunities to forge a new path to peace, including exploring the untapped potential for Israeli-Arab trade and economic cooperation.
Renewing the Centre
Our Renewing the Centre work aims to provide practical solutions to some of the big policy challenges that globalisation presents in the West, including revitalising liberal democracy and combatting populism. We are not a think tank, rather a non-partisan policy platform which aims to inform and support those on the frontline of politics with radical and practical ideas to today’s challenges. This year’s reports have included a defence of liberal values, how to manage migration in the 21st century based on rules, not prejudice and a new deal for big tech that ensures the benefits of new technologies are harnessed and the freedom to innovate is protected.
Tony Blair shared his written reflections on a range of subjects that underpin the work of Renewing the Centre, including a keynote speech in defence of liberal democracies at the inaugural Copenhagen Democracy Summit.
The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) has submitted its second set of annual accounts to Companies House and they are published today, Thursday 3rd October 2019, on this website.
In 2018, we continued to invest in our people and projects, with our work in 14 African countries being the biggest area of growth. The increase in income was particularly pronounced in relation to activities carried out in Africa, with funding for our activities on the continent almost doubling, increasing to $17.2m.
These accounts, the second since the strategic coming together of three organisations, show the Institute to be in a healthy financial position: the turnover was $45.2m and a surplus of $3.5m has been reinvested into the organisation. Total reserves were $9.3m at the reporting date compared with $5.8m last year.
TBI is a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to make globalisation work for the many by helping countries, their governments and their people address some of the most difficult challenges in the world today.
Tony Blair is the sole owner and Executive Chairman of the Institute, and, as set out in the Articles of Association, he receives no remuneration for his work at TBI, to which he devotes at least 80% of his time.
TBI operates globally and therefore many of its activities are paid for, and planned, using US$. The presentation of our financial statements in US$ most fairly reflects our economic activities.
The Institute’s overarching aim is to support governments on the path of reform and modernisation: to alleviate poverty, raise standards of living, foster religious and cultural tolerance, advance peace and reconciliation, support progressive policies and seize the opportunities of the technological revolution.
Support and inform those on the frontline of politics with practical policy solutions to rise to the challenges while mitigating the risks of globalisation and the rise of populism.
We promote co-existence and countering extremism by tackling the ideology behind acts of violence.
Support political leaders and governments to implement progressive changes and reforms.
Foster Arab-Israeli dialogue to promote a regional approach to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Our people
These accounts show an average total of 213 staff, who are based in 14 African nations, the UK, the United States, United Arab Emirates, Serbia and Israel. Our diverse workforce, comprising more than 35 different nationalities offers a wide range of expertise and experience.
Gender balance is incredibly important to us and we are proud that 55% of our employees are women, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operations Officer, and our board is 50% female.
Our work and objectives
Governance
We are partnered with 14 governments across Africa, helping build their capacity to improve living standards for their citizens.
Our projects focus on establishing the skills, systems and structures at the centre of government to ensure effective government leadership and coordination, driving economic reform, strengthening the private sector and business environment, facilitating foreign investment, building key infrastructure and improving the delivery of public services. This work has the potential to help 510 million citizens.
In 2018, we focussed on consolidating our existing projects as well as looking at several other opportunities in countries where the Institute is gaining an understanding of the local context and political dynamics necessary to provide our unique, tailored advice to leaders on how to accelerate delivery of their public policy and development priorities. We recruited 29 new members of staff, who joined our various Africa teams during the year, bringing our staffing numbers in Africa to 77 – including 12 staff members supporting our programmes in Africa from our London head office.
We also began preliminary work for the first time in the Sahel region, primarily with the Government in Burkina Faso. The Sahel region is one of the world’s poorest and at great risk from climate change. Spanning the breadth of the continent, the region is subject to extreme poverty and conflict.
With the region’s rapidly expanding population compounding these challenges, strong government is needed now. Tony Blair has spoken about this issue on a global stage, raising awareness of the region’s plight and the international response required. TBI will launch a new Sahel programme, sharing our insights and experience in governance, to support the region’s governments and inform the international community.
In 2018, we initiated work with 6 partners, including the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). At the AGRA annual forum, AGRF, held in September in Kigali, TBI held several events with Tony Blair giving keynote speeches underscoring the importance of agriculture to the African continent.
Tony Blair continued to visit and monitor progress in our projects, meeting with heads of government both in their countries and elsewhere on the global stage
Co-Existence
TBI’s co-existence work focusses on promoting co-existence and countering extremism by tackling the pernicious ideology which gives rise to extremist acts.
The team conducts research on extremist ideologies including Islamist extremists and the far right, online and offline extremism, Boko Haram’s insurgency and Shia Islamism. In September 2018, TBI launched its unique ‘Global Extremism Monitor’, which included the geo-coding of individual acts of violent extremism and efforts to counter it across the globe. The Monitor found that in 2017 at least 84,023 people died in 66 countries from acts of Islamist extremism. TBI’s work has given rise to actionable insights, including the role that women play in violent Islamist groups and the execution of attacks, as well as the disproportionate number of victims from Muslim–majority states. Research informs the support given to leaders and governments around the world, including the role states should and could play in countering extremism. While security measures will always be vital, unless decision makers act to counter extremist thinking, violence will continue to spread.
These insights also shape the focus of TBI’s programmatic and advocacy work.
Compass is a mentoring project that supports young women to break down some of the barriers faced by minority groups in British society and build inclusive communities, resilient to destructive ideologies. This year saw the recruitment of 76 mentors who supported 144 young women across four London boroughs. Since its inception, the project has reached 244 young women, and will be extended to its first location outside of London in 2019-20.
Generation Global, a pioneering global education programme for 12 to 17-year-olds, in its ninth year, and to date has reached more than 500,000 students around the world. Operating in more than 35 countries, it equips teachers and their students with dialogue skills and resources that cultivate critical thinking and open-mindedness in young people. In 2018 it reached more than 109,000 students – an increase of 39,000 on last year - and continued to build its government relationships, including working with the Ministries of Education in Jordan and Italy, as well as several states in India. TBI is working with government partners and the UN to put on the global political agenda a new Global Commitment to Promote Global Citizenship and Prevent Extremism, through education. The Commitment will set out global principles to inform the development of education systems that root out religious prejudice and promote open, global, tolerant societies.
Our Supporting Leaders programme is designed to build the skills and capacity of religious and community leaders to identify and tackle religious extremism through counter-narratives and practical community action. In 2018, we worked with our local partners to deliver training to 156 religious leaders in Nigeria. We also helped co-design a pilot project to replicate Supporting Leaders in Kenya from which we secured funding to train 40 religious leaders in 2019.
Middle East
Our work in the Middle East supports a regional approach to the peace process, one which fosters Arab-Israeli ties, ensures the viability of a future Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel and supports modernization in the Arab world. Our reports focussed on promoting regional cooperation and identified opportunities to forge a new path to peace, including exploring the untapped potential for Israeli-Arab trade and economic cooperation.
Renewing the Centre
Our Renewing the Centre work aims to provide practical solutions to some of the big policy challenges that globalisation presents in the West, including revitalising liberal democracy and combatting populism. We are not a think tank, rather a non-partisan policy platform which aims to inform and support those on the frontline of politics with radical and practical ideas to today’s challenges. This year’s reports have included a defence of liberal values, how to manage migration in the 21st century based on rules, not prejudice and a new deal for big tech that ensures the benefits of new technologies are harnessed and the freedom to innovate is protected.
Tony Blair shared his written reflections on a range of subjects that underpin the work of Renewing the Centre, including a keynote speech in defence of liberal democracies at the inaugural Copenhagen Democracy Summit.
Other years' financial statements