Rockefeller Foundation's New US $50 Million Initiative Finds Widespread Support for International Cooperation in Landmark 34-Country Survey

• 36,405 adults surveyed in US, China, Germany, Japan, India, UK, France, Italy, Canada, Brazil, and 23 countries in Africa, Asia & Oceania, Europe, MENA, Latin America
  
  
• Alongside the survey, The Rockefeller Foundation launched a new US$50 million Build the Shared Future initiative to help build a more modern and effective international system

NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Rockefeller Foundation released findings of a new global poll that shows considerable, but fragile, support for international cooperation. The Rockefeller Foundation also announced the launch of a new US $50 million Build the Shared Future initiative, in which the 112-year-old philanthropic organization aims to develop solutions that more effectively respond to crises and promote a healthier, more prosperous, and secure future for all. To break down silos in global development and humanitarian sectors and identify and test new solutions, The Rockefeller Foundation has tapped three leading experts in their fields to:

1. Build a new framework for international cooperation with The Hon. Wally Adeyemo, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury under U.S. President Joseph R. Biden;
2. Restructure global health with The Hon. Mark Dybul, MD, founding architect and former U.S. Coordinator of the President's Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) under U.S. President George W. Bush; and,
3. Reimagine humanitarian food systems with Simon Winter, PhD., Executive Director of Sustainable Agriculture Foundations' International Association (SAFIA).

"The data is clear: Even in a time of pessimism and polarization, people everywhere know that countries must cooperate if we are to confront the common threats facing humanity," said The Rt. Honorable Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and member of The Rockefeller Foundation's Board of Trustees. "People want a system that's more compassionate, more just, and more capable of delivering results. The Build the Shared Future initiative seeks to answer that urgent call."

Global Cooperation Survey
At a moment of massive global disruption, including dramatic cuts to humanitarian and development work—for example, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has predicted official development assistance (ODA) to fall by an additional 9%-17% this year—The Rockefeller Foundation's new survey captures how people view global cooperation and key international institutions. Conducted between August 8 to September 10, 36,405 adults spanning various age groups, genders, regions, education experience, ethnicities, and political perspectives, were polled in 34 countries in Eastern and Central Europe (Hungary, Poland, Romania), Western Europe (France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, plus the United Kingdom), Northern Europe (Norway, Sweden), Canada, the United States, Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay), East and South Asia (China, India, Japan, South Korea), Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore), Middle East (Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia) and Turkey, Sub-Saharan Africa (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa), and Oceania (Australia, New Zealand).

"At a moment when the world is struggling to cooperate on addressing shared threats, The Rockefeller Foundation can once again help bring people together from across the world and across political divides to test new ideas and catalyze innovative solutions that will save lives," said Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, President and CEO of the ONE Campaign and member of The Rockefeller Foundation's Board of Trustees.

People Want Global Cooperation that Works

The results illustrate a pronounced reality: Despite cuts to development aid and rising nationalist rhetoric around the world, most people still want nations to work together to take on common threats. Even as some nations reject multilateralism in favor of national self-interest, poll respondents largely rejected a zero-sum view of the world, seeing their fates as tied to those in other countries. Yet the findings also show that support for global cooperation, while real, is fragile. Across regions and demographics, people back cooperation when it delivers results, though some survey respondents remain skeptical that international cooperation serves their interests.

For example, a slim majority of those surveyed (54%) say their lives are affected by events in other countries, and a slightly greater global majority (55%) agree their country should cooperate on global challenges even if it means compromising on national interests. But a far greater percentage (75%) would support international cooperation if it is proven to effectively solve global problems and 76% would support international cooperation if it is proven to solve problems in peoples' own countries. Today, less than half (42%) think international cooperation is in their personal interests.

Current Global Institutions Leave People Wanting

People around the world overwhelmingly believe that global cooperation is important to take on central global issues from jobs (90%), trade and economic development (92%), food and water security (93%), global health (91%), climate (86%) and poverty and inequality (90%).  However, trust in some existing institutions that can guide or drive global cooperation is relatively lower, including for the United Nations (58%), World Health Organization (60%), the International Monetary Fund (44%), amongst others.

These findings show that the world has an opportunity – right now – to fundamentally rethink international cooperation and replace the outdated mechanisms of the 21^st century with demonstrably more effective, mutually beneficial systems that can earn and sustain public support. The Rockefeller Foundation's Build the Shared Future initiative aims to galvanize the global community to leave behind an inadequate status quo and get smarter, more creative, and more collaborative in tackling the world's biggest threats.

"The institutions that worked to advance human progress in the 20th century are struggling to meet the challenges of the 21st. But we are already seeing the blueprints for a shared future in efforts underway around the world," said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. "This moment of transformation is an opportunity to build on what's working, forging new partnerships and leveraging new technologies to deliver results for the world's most vulnerable people."

FocalData, a research technology company, was engaged to conduct the survey. FocalData polled the 36,405 respondents across 34 countries between August 8 to September 10, 2025. The survey used a representative sample with respect to age, gender, region, education, ethnicity and most recent political vote to achieve nationally representative samples in each country, with ethnicity and past political vote quotas applied only where such measures are collected and standard practice. The sample was weighted to be representative by age and gender at a minimum, with additional weights applied, as appropriate in each country, for region, education, ethnicity, and/or most recent political vote. With sample sizes ranging from 708 to 1,266, the margin of error at the 95% confidence level is approximately ±2 to ±4 percentage points, with most countries around ±3.0pp.

Build the Shared Future is in line with The Rockefeller Foundation's long history of taking decisive and timely actions and convening the very best in their fields to solve the world's most pressing problems. During its first 40 years, for example, The Rockefeller Foundation started the modern field of public health, initially helping to nearly eradicate hookworm in the southern United States and playing a key role in fighting the 1918 influenza pandemic. Later, the World Health Organization at its founding drew inspiration from an early project of The Rockefeller Foundation—the International Health Division—that bolstered public health agencies and fought diseases worldwide. The Rockefeller Foundation also contributed to the creation of the Children's Vaccine Initiative, the precursor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which today has vaccinated more than 1.2 billion children worldwide. Today, The Rockefeller Foundation works to unlock opportunity in the areas of Food, Health, Energy, and Finance, amongst others, for vulnerable populations around the world. For example, The Rockefeller Foundation is working to expand the balance sheets of the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to boost their development and climate resilience lending to countries most in need. The Rockefeller Foundation has pursued these and other efforts to help humanity, while also infusing risk capital to support scientific advancement and spur technological innovation, including projects that built telescopes and cyclotrons.

Additional Statements of Support:

• "Right now, leaders across low- and middle-income countries have been leading a global health model that's driven by the needs of countries, rather than by priorities of external funders. The Build the Shared Future initiative will support this important work, partnering with leaders across Africa and beyond to promote sustainable investments in own highly efficient and effective health systems that will inform a much needed transformation in global health governance." ― Ambassador Mark Dybul, former U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, who will lead The Rockefeller Foundation's efforts to restructure global health systems.
  
  
• "Hunger risks are rising in the 21st century. We can address this through locally led, data-driven food systems that integrate short-term relief with lasting solutions. Build the Shared Future seeks to harness the power of advanced data systems to develop resilient local systems that anticipate humanitarian crises rather than react to them, and utilize scarcer public aid to strengthen economies and save lives." ― Dr. Simon Winter, Executive Director of Sustainable Agriculture Foundations' International Association (SAFIA), who will lead The Rockefeller Foundation's efforts to reimagine food systems.
  
  
• "International cooperation is critical to building an economy that works for everyone, protecting democratic values, and enabling us to address the world's most pressing challenges. Problems that seem local or national often demand coordinated, global solutions. In this moment of geopolitical crisis, we need to rethink the way the world works together, and I am excited to be working with Rockefeller and our international partners to engage in that project." ― Wally Adeyemo, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, who will lead The Rockefeller  Foundation's efforts to build a new framework for multilateral cooperation.
  
  
• "For too long, the narrative around development in Africa has been focused on aid rather than on partnership and mutual benefit. This new data confirms what we've always known—that Africans want a system of international cooperation that is not only effective but also equitable. Build the Shared Future provides a powerful opportunity to design and implement solutions that prioritize local leadership, leverage innovation, and build a more resilient and prosperous future for the continent." ― William Asiko, Vice President of Africa at The Rockefeller Foundation.
  
  
• "People across Asia, from India to Indonesia, from China to Japan, want their countries to collaborate on challenges that transcend borders. But they want cooperation that delivers results: food and water security, better health, decent jobs, and resilience to climate shocks. Build the Shared Future is an unprecedented opportunity to transform what regional collaboration can achieve. Asia is positioned not only to benefit from that transformation, but to help lead it." ― Deepali Khanna, Senior Vice President & Head of Asia, The Rockefeller Foundation.
  
  
• "In Latin America, people not only believe in international cooperation: they are leading it. From the Amazon to Mexico, they are working to build fairer, more resilient, and more sustainable solutions. Build the Shared Future is an opportunity to connect local efforts with global partnerships that effectively improve people's lives." ― Lyana Latorre, Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Rockefeller Foundation.

About The Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on collaborative partnerships at the frontiers of science, technology, and innovation that enable individuals, families, and communities to flourish. We make big bets to promote the well-being of humanity. Today, we are focused on advancing human opportunity, by harnessing innovation for people and transforming systems in food, health, energy, and finance, including engaging through our public charity, RF Catalytic Capital (RFCC). For more information, sign up for our newsletter at www.rockefellerfoundation.org/subscribe and follow us on X @RockefellerFdn and LinkedIn @the-rockefeller-foundation.