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One day, we read a newspaper article about millions of children in poor countries who die from diseases ... that were easily treated in wealthier countries. That blew our minds. As new parents, it hit us especially hard. If there’s anything worse than the death of a child, we said to each other, then surely, it’s the preventable death of a child. We sent the article to Bill Sr. with a note: “Dad, maybe we can do something about this.” Those eight words changed the rest of our lives."
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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenOne day, we read a newspaper article about millions of children in poor countries who die from diseases ... that were easily treated in wealthier countries. That blew our minds. As new parents, it hit us especially hard. If there’s anything worse than the death of a child, we said to each other, then surely, it’s the preventable death of a child. We sent the article to Bill Sr. with a note: “Dad, maybe we can do something about this.” Those eight words changed the rest of our lives."
- Bill & Melinda Gates (gatesfoundation.org)
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the largest non-profit organisations in the world. The foundation works globally to improve living standards for underprivileged communities in partnership with NGOs, institutions, and research facilities. How did the Bill and Melinda Gated Foundation start? How is the foundation organised? What is it doing well, and what criticism has it received?
A non-profit organisation is an organisation that works for purposes other than making a profit. Non-profit organisations tend to pursue social objectives.
In 1994, Bill and Melinda Gates founded the William H. Gates foundation which concentrated on two main problems: global health and community needs in the Pacific Northwest. Bill Gates's father, William, looked after the activities of this foundation. After three years, the Gates Library Foundation was established and aimed to enhance internet access to public libraries for less-well-off families in North America. It was later renamed the Gates Learning Foundation to cover the broader educational aspect.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was formed in 2000, a merger of the two foundations. Its initial concerns were global health, libraries, and education in the Pacific Northwest. The foundation was founded because Bill & Melinda believed every individual, irrespective of their circumstances, should have a good life.
Our mission is to create a world where every person has the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life.”
- gatesfoundation.org
The foundation aims to develop science and education to provide a solution to complicated global issues and help people improve their lives.
Later in 2006, the foundation was restructured to include global development, global health, and a division was established in the USA. Also, an investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway (stock value of $31billion) announced a lifelong pledge to the foundation. At this point, the foundation modified its structure and created a trust called ‘The Bill & Melinda Foundation Trust’ for managing and investing endowment assets. In 2008, Bill Gates resigned from his position at Microsoft to dedicate his time and efforts to the foundation.
The global development division attempts to eradicate severe poverty and hunger. With the help of partnerships and grants linked to its schemes in the agriculture sector, the programme creates opportunities for farmers in the developing world and facilitates research on producing micro-nutrient enriched rice and flour.
The programme also strives to boost financial services to the needy with the help of a funded project that assesses the efficiency of loans and insurance, education, and financial planning in poor countries. This division is also devoted to global libraries, in order to support public libraries and organisations which work to increase access to IT. This initiative provided access to 99% of US public libraries and the foundation invested around $240 million in this.
The USA division is committed to reducing inequities and increasing opportunities for low-income earners and vulnerable people in the country. The programme’s education project focuses on lowering school dropout rates. This programme also supports projects for at-risk youngsters and and aims to reduce homelessness in the region.
Together the global development and global health divisions strive to tackle high mortality rates from preventive diseases in developing countries. Projects include agricultural initiatives, sanitation, polio, nutrition, vaccinations, maternal and child health, and emergency response. The global health programme is concerned with HIV/AIDS, pneumonia, malaria, tuberculosis, etc. The foundation provides funding to projects for increasing access to prevailing vaccines and medications for regular diseases and facilitates research for the new, reasonable and practical solutions to these health problems. The Grand Challenge initiative of this division provides funding for potential scientific discoveries to prevent, treat and cure diseases in third world countries.
Table 1 below shows the fundings in the above-mentioned programmes along with some others.
Total direct grantee support | $5.822 billion |
Program Area | Funding |
Global Development | $1,893,000,000 |
Global Health | $1,792,000,000 |
U.S. Program | $642,000,000 |
Global Growth & Opportunity | $620,000,000 |
Global Policy and Advocacy | $523,000,000 |
Gender Equality | $94,000,000 |
Non-Program Areas | Funding |
Other Charitable Programs | $258,000,000 |
Table 1. Programs and grants of the foundation (gatesfoundation.org)
2006: Prince of Asturias Award for its international cooperation.
2007: Indira Gandhi's prize for peace was given by the president of India Pratibha Devi Singh Patil.
2015: India’s third highest civilian honour Padma Bhushan was awarded for philanthropic activities in India.
2016: President Barack Obama awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom.
While the Bill and Melinda Foundation is appreciated for its efforts to improve global issues and concerns, it has also been criticised for some of its policies:
A few critics have expressed concerns that the foundation leads the conversation on education or pushes its viewpoint via news coverage. The foundation has been accused by parents, researchers, and professionals for steering the conversation on educational reforms.
Critics have suggested that Bill’s perspective on global health and agriculture advocates for the interests of big pharmaceutical companies and agribusinesses (such as Biomatics capital partners in which Gates has invested) above the interests of developing countries.
Both inside and outside critics imply that there is a lot of difference in Gates' personal views and the views of the foundation. Critics also point out that the Gates Foundation grants are usually given depending on social relations and ideological adherences rather than on technical capabilities and competence.
In 2019, the foundation gave the global goalkeeper award to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This was broadly criticised by human rights activists and academics around the world. There was a petition signed by more than 100,000 people asking the foundation to withdraw the award. Critics said that Modi, who is a Hindu nationalist, has an extensive record of human rights abuses, and that the foundation should not affirm this when it has a mission statement which emphasises equal value to every human being.
Despite a lot of criticism of the foundation, it continues to play a part in making the world a better place for people globally. It continues to strive for ways to ease the lives of people and provide support.
In 1994, Bill and Melinda Gates founded the William H. Gates foundation which concentrated on two main problems: global health and community needs in the Pacific Northwest.
A non-profit organisation is an organisation that works for purposes other than making a profit and in which the income is not distributed to its members.
The Gates Library Foundation aimed to improve internet access to public libraries.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was formed in 2000 when the two foundations merged.
The foundation was restructured to include global development, global health, and a division in the USA.
The global development division attempts to eradicate severe poverty and hunger, boost financial services, and increase access to IT in public libraries.
The USA division is committed to reducing inequities and increase opportunities for low-income and vulnerable people in the country.
The global health programme is concerned with gastric diseases, HIV/AIDS, pneumonia, malaria, tuberculosis, vaccinations, and research for new treatments of diseases.
The foundation was awarded the Prince of Asturias award, Indira Gandhi prize for peace, Padma Bhushan, and The Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Criticism of the foundation is that Gate’s educational reforms may marginalise professionals and researchers; Gate advocates for the interests of big pharmaceutical companies and agribusinesses; the foundation was criticised for giving an award to Indian prime minister Modi, who is an alleged human rights abuser.
Sources:
Yaleschoolofbusinesshealth, https://vol12.cases.som.yale.edu/medical-supply-solutions-tanzania/partnership-part-1/bill-and-melinda-gates-foundation
Guinnesworldrecord, https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/business-solutions/case-studies/bill-melinda-gates-foundation
BillandMelindagatesfoundation,
https://d3pxppq3195xue.cloudfront.net/media/files/NBBJ_GATES_CASE_STUDY_web_.pdf
Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gates-Foundation
Fundsforngos,https://www.fundsforngos.org/foundation-funds-for-ngos/gates-foundation-one-of-the-biggest-donor-for-the-ngos/
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation works globally to improve living standards for underprivileged communities in partnership with NGOs, institutions, and research facilities.
The global development division attempts to eradicate severe poverty and hunger, boost financial services, and increase access to IT in public libraries and the USA division is committed to reducing inequities and increasing opportunities for low-income and vulnerable people in the country.
Some of the accomplishments of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are:
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the largest non-profit organisations in the world with many charitable programs worth $258 million other than regular programs.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was formed in 2000 when the two foundations, William H. Gates Foundation and The Gates Library Foundation, merged.
Flashcards in Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation15
Start learningWho are the founders of the Bill and Melinda foundation?
Bill Gates and Melinda Gates.
When was Bill and Melinda's foundation founded?
It was founded in 2000.
The Bill and Melinda foundation merged with which foundation?
William H. Gates foundation
Why was the Bill and Melinda foundation founded?
Bill and Melinda were concerned that millions of children are dying in poor and developing countries from diseases, such as diarrhea and pneumonia, that were easily treated in wealthier countries. Bill & Melinda believed every individual, irrespective of their circumstances should live a good life.
What were the initial concerns of the foundation?
Its initial main concerns were global health, libraries, education as well as the Pacific Northwest.
What is the mission of the foundation?
"Our mission is to create a world where every person has the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life."
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