As the world’s major industrialized nations come together in France for the G-20 summit, they will be joined by one of the world’s richest men, Bill Gates. You might think the Microsoft co-founder is there to discuss the role of technology in addressing the world economic crisis, but in fact he is there to discuss the need for nations to continue their work against global poverty and disease.
Gates famously has turned much of his time and money to global philanthropy. Including supporting efforts to increase education overseas, eliminating hunger and addressing “orphan” third-world diseases that impact millions. His funds have helped tremendously and lead to important innovations; however, he is there to stress the need for national partners in the developed world too. A point he emphasize Monday in a Washington Post editorial.
Fifty years ago, almost 20 million children under the age of 5 died every year. In 2010, the figure was down to 7.6 million . This 60 percent decline in childhood deaths — reflecting advances in agriculture, education, health and sanitation — is compelling evidence of the increasing justice in our world.
But the global economic crisis is putting the long-term trend of progress at risk, as Congress’s debates about the foreign aid budget underscore….[But it is] programs funded by U.S. generosity have been a core component of this 50-year project of raising living standards around the world.
Aid is targeted to fill specific gaps in development. The most important of these gaps is innovation. When the private sector doesn’t have incentive, and poor governments don’t have the money, smart aid pays for breakthrough solutions. The green revolution that fed a billion people in the 1950s and ’60s never would have happened without advanced agricultural science funded by U.S. aid. [And] in just the past 10 years, millions of children have been saved from diseases such as measles and whooping cough by vaccines that Americans paid for through their contribution to an organization called the GAVI Alliance. Immunization is a great example of how aid can be effective. Thirty-six cents worth of measles vaccine protects a child for a lifetime.
Source: Opinion: Bill Gates’s plan to assist the world’s poor
One of the smartest investments I ever made was my $1 billion gift to the United Nations, which led to the creation of the United Nations Foundation. The United Nations is the only institution with the international scale, reach and capacity to address today’s toughest challenges. If we want to ensure that we leave our children and grandchildren a safe and healthy world, then it is critical for world leaders to support the U.N.’s vital work on voluntary family planning and reproductive health for women across the globe.
The current economic climate has forced Congress to take a long, hard look at its spending and rightly make some tough choices. However, far too often in this debate, the needs of women and children are the first items heaped onto the chopping block.This year’s budget discussion has been no exception. Two of the most disturbing and shortsighted of the foreign aid budget cuts are those in funding for international family planning and the U.N. Population Fund. The fund is an agency focused on assisting governments in delivering quality sexual and reproductive health care — including voluntary family planning — throughout the life cycle of women across the globe who want and need it.
Much as we are having domestic debates about the role of government in private business investment, we need to realize there is a similar one going on behind the scenes globally on foreign aid. And these wealthy businessmen are clearly telling us that we must have the wealthiest governments of the world involved in order to make the rest of the world prosper.