I N T R ODUCT ION A Common Mission The goal of George Soros’s philanthropy is to transform closed societies into open ones and to protect and expand the values of existing open societies. To this end, he has over the past two decades established the Soros foundations network, a decentralized association of nonprofit organizations that share this common mission. These organizations work to achieve their goal by funding and operating an array of activities dealing with the arts and culture broadly defined; the strengthening of civil society;economic development and reform;education at all levels and in diverse subject areas;human rights, with special attention to the rights of marginalized groups;legal reform and public administration; media and information, including publishing, electronic communi- cation, and support for libraries; and public health. 1999 report | 7 About This Report This report presents basic information about the activ- About Open Society ities and expenditures of the organizations in the Soros foundations network. Each entity in the network is At the most fundamental, philosophical level, the con- treated in a separate entry. Although this causes some cept of open society is based on the recognition that repetition in the discussion of issues and priorities, it is people act on imperfect knowledge and that no one is the best way to emphasize the independence of the net- in possession of the ultimate truth. In practice, an open work’s major components and to enumerate the many society is characterized by the rule of law;respect forparts of an organization that has developed into a major human rights, minorities, and minority opinions;the force in philanthropy around the world. division of power;a market economy in which business The two main organizational categories in the Soros and government are separate;and a thriving civil soci- foundations network are “national foundations” and ety. Broadly speaking, open society is a way to describe “network programs.” A national foundation is an the positive aspects of democracy. The term “open soci- autonomous institution established in a particular coun- ety”was popularized by the philosopher Karl Popper in try to initiate and support relevant activities in that his 1945 book Open Society and Its Enemies. country. National foundations are located primarily in the previously communist countries of Central and East- ern Europe and the former Soviet Union, but also in other parts of the world. The priorities and specific activities About the Founder of each national foundation are determined by a local board of directors and staff in consultation with George George Soros is chairman of Soros Fund Management, Soros and his advisors. The Soros foundations network a private investment management firm. He was born includes foundations in Kosovo and Montenegro and in Budapest, Hungary in 1930. He emigrated in 1947 to two regional foundations, the Open Society Initiative England, where he graduated from the London School for Southern Africa and the Open Society Initiative for of Economics and in 1956 to the United States, where he West Africa (established in early 2000). Regional foun- began to accumulate a large fortune through his invest- dations, which are governed by a board of directors and ment activities. In addition to writing many articles on a staff from the region, make grants in a number of coun- the political and economic changes in Central and East- tries. The foundations in Kosovo and Montenegro and ern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Soros is the the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa are listed author of The Alchemy of Finance (1987), Opening the in the national foundations section of this report. Soviet System (1990), Underwriting Democracy (1991), To varying degrees, all of the national foundations Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve (1995) and participate in network programs. Network programs The Crisis of Global Capitalism (1998). Soros has received address specific program areas—public health, media, honorary doctoral degrees from the New School for Social early childhood education, for example—on a network- Research, Oxford University, the Budapest University of wide basis. Network programs are administered by the Economics, and Yale University. In 1995, the University Open Society Institute–Budapest or the Open Society of Bologna awarded Soros its highest honor, the Laurea Institute in New York and are implemented in cooper- Honoris Causa, in recognition of his efforts to promote ation with the national foundations. The network pro- open societies throughout the world. grams section of this report includes the International 8 | soros foundations network OSI Policy Fellowships, a program of the Central Euro- is a chart outlining 1999 expenditures in that country. pean University’s Center for Policy Studies. Payments made by the Open Society Institute–Budapest, In addition to the national foundations and the net- the Open Society Institute in New York,or other entities work programs, this report describes a host of other on behalf of national foundations for network programs Soros-supported activities and organizations, including or other activities are included in these charts. At the end programs that focus on the United States, initiatives of the section is a chart showing the total expenditures that deal with issues of global significance, and pro- for national foundations. grams that benefit countries where no national foun- Following the section describing the activities of dation exists. This report is intended to give a broad the network programs is a chart detailing each net- overview of George Soros’s philanthropic undertakings. work program’s total spending, including national To obtain more detailed information, contact the organ- foundation contributions. The goal of presenting the ization or program in question at the address provided data in this manner is to show the total amount of in the directory at the end of this report, or visit the net- money expended in a particular country, as well as the work’s website at www.soros.org. total amount spent on a particular program. The result- ing duplication of amounts is reflected as an interor- ganizational elimination in the chart on this page. In addition, other Soros-sponsored organizations made About 1999 Expenditures grants in some countries outside the framework of the national foundations or network programs. These are In 1999, the Soros foundations network’s expenditures noted in the section of the report dealing with the totaled $560,093,000. Some of these funds were con- country in question. tributed by Soros out of current income, while other The activities and expenditures of the network grew funds were derived from charitable entities established significantly from 1994 through the peak years of 1998 by the Soros family. Some organizations in the network and 1999. In 1994, expenditures totaled $300 million;in also received funds from the U.S. government (partic- 1995, $350 million;in 1996, $362 million;in 1997, $429 ularly for scholarships) and from other donors, which million;in 1998, $574.7 million;and now, in 1999, $560 together are included in the relevant organization’s million. In coming years, as the Soros foundations net- expenditures as reported here. The Soros foundations work reduces its funding role and successful network network’s total expenditures are summarized below. entities become self-sustaining, expenditures are expected Following the report from each national foundation to revert to a level closer to that of 1995 and 1996. TOTAL SOROS FOUNDATIONS NETWORK EXPENDITURES $560,081,000 NATIONAL FOUNDATIONS 250,100,000 NETWORK PROGRAMS 140,653,000 U.S. PROGRAMS 93,116,000 OTHER INITIATIVES 12,487,000 CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY 16,944,000 ALL OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, PROGRAMS, AND COSTS 116,565,000 INTERORGANIZATIONAL ELIMINATION (69,784,000) 1999 report | 9 PRESIDENT ’S MESSA GE Constant Change, Unchanging Goals One of the constants in the Soros foundations network is change. The changes underway at this writing are more rapid and more fundamental than usual. Some changes derive from the recognition that the region where the foundations developed first and where the majority of our activities are concentrated is not one region and has not been one region for some time. The differences between its parts are growing. ŒWhat united that region, of course, was its common history of colonization by the Soviet Union. Today, within the Soros foundations network, we think of the region as three fairly distinct areas: the ten Central and Eastern European countries that are candidates for accession to the European Union; the countries of South Eastern Europe that are intended beneficiaries of the Stability Pact; and the countries of the former Soviet Union and 1999 report | 11 Mongolia (excluding the Baltics, which are included mission. It requires the foundations to shift from a devel- among the accession countries). opmental approach to a focus on public policy. By their Two countries, Bulgaria and Romania, are included nature, policy efforts require the expenditure of less in two categories. This seems appropriate. As candidates money than developmental programs. for accession to the European Union, they lag behind Of course, many foundations have embarked on devel- the other candidates economically and, in certain opmental programs in certain areas, such as education, respects, politically. Therefore, they are commonly con- where commitments must be maintained and where sidered to be furthest from gaining entry. Although they our previous expenditures would be wasted if we dis- have not been caught up directly in the armed conflicts continued our efforts abruptly. Hence, the shift in focus of South Eastern Europe, it is clear that their develop- cannot take place all at once. It is gradual. The goals of ment is crucial for the Stability Pact’s goals. these foundations have not changed; rather, their strat- In general, the Soros foundations are reducing expen- egy for achieving those goals is altering to meet the new ditures in the accession countries.