Three high-profile UAE-based businessmen are among 14 philanthropists who have joined the Giving Pledge created by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet, which invites the world’s wealthiest philanthropists to commit more than half their wealth to charitable causes during their lifetimes or in their wills.

The philanthropists include Badr Jafr, the CEO of the UAE-based Crescent Enterprises and president of Crescent Petroleum, as well as NMC Health and UAE Exchange founder BR Shetty and VPS Healthcare founder and managing director Shamseer Vayalil.

Of the remaining philanthropists most recently added to the Giving Pledge, nine are from the United States, and one each from Canada and India.

“Recognising the rapid generation shifts occurring in developing markets, including the Middle East, my philanthropic activities are built around this urgency to promote a culture of strategic high-impact philanthropy as an imperative for private resources to serve public good,” Badr Jafr wrote in his pledge letter.

BR Shetty, for his part, said that “it is a crime when you are able to help others and choose not to.”

Lastly Shamseer Vayalil noted that he believes “success means having created something that can make a positive and sustainable difference in the lives of people.”

To date, 183 pledgers from 22 countries have signed onto the Giving Pledge, ranging in ages from 32 to 94.

“Over the past eight years, we’ve been inspired by the dedicated philanthropists who have chosen to join the Giving Pledge and this year’s group is no exception,” Warren Buffet said in a statement.

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