Saudi businessman and philanthropist HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud has pledged to donate all his wealth to charities over the coming years. His $32 billion commitment is one of the largest philanthropic pledges to date.

Speaking as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Alwaleed Philanthropies Prince Alwaleed said that he wanted his gift to help build a “better world of tolerance, acceptance, equality and opportunity for all.”

A nephew to former king Abdullah, who died in January this year, Prince Alwaleed has been involved in philanthropic activities for 35 years. He has already donated $3.5 billion through the Alwaleed Philanthropies, one of the major philanthropic foundations in the Arab world.

He said:

“I now pledge to donate my entire wealth to the Alwaleed Philanthropies, which work in the main fields of intercultural understanding, supporting needy communities, through health promotion, eradication of diseases, provision of electric power to remote villages and hamlets, building orphanages and schools, and much more, as well as providing disaster relief and empowering women, youth and poverty alleviation. This donation will be allocated according to a well-devised plan throughout the coming years. It will be based on a strategy that is supervised and managed by a board of trustees headed by me to ensure that it will be used after my death for humanitarian projects and initiatives.”

Bill Gates, Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with whom the Alwaleed Philanthropies have partnered, welcomed the Prince’s decision, saying:

“Prince Alwaleed’s generous commitment promises to significantly extend the great work that his foundation is already doing. His gift is an inspiration to all of us working in philanthropy around the world.”

Gates is one of those philanthropists who have signed up to The Giving Pledge, promising to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy. Although Prince Alwaleed’s pledge is on that scale, his statement made no mention of that initiative.

The Alwaleed Philanthropies have supported projects in 92 countries. These include:

* promoting more sustainable communities in Saudi Arabia, through the Housing Initiative, which allows hundreds of thousands of eligible Saudi citizens to receive housing units.

* helping Afghani women by advocating literacy, via the Turquoise Mountain organisation

* supporting disaster relief in countries that have suffered natural disasters, including Egypt, Jeddah, Nepal and Turkey

* supporting education through six centres at the universities of Georgetown, Harvard, Edinburgh, Cambridge, and the American University of Beirut and the American University in Cairo; in addition to the Islamic Hall at the Louvre in Paris.