Controversial new report calls for Bill Gates' philanthropic Foundation to undergo an international investigation, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. As a result, philanthropists’ role in social change is facing a more scholarly review, said Stacy Palmer, editor of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, a trade publication covering nonprofits. Republican operative Roger Stone’s criticism of the Bill Gates vaccine agenda is not falling on deaf ears. It ensures the [Gates] foundation has a smoother time in India." Photograph courtesy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/Prashant Panjiar. Huge corporations including Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer and Dupont, are major beneficiaries of its projects. The sheer scale of its charitable giving is astonishing. Sat 24 Oct 2015 02.30 EDT. They have offered guidance to a range of organizations, from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative funded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to the Stand Together nonprofit backed by conservative industrialist Charles Koch. Mr Modi has not responded to the criticism, but he tweeted, thanking the foundation for the award. Andy Beckett. “Our mission is to improve quality of life for the world’s poorest people. The Gates Foundation, Breakthrough Energy, and Bill Gates’s money managers all refused multiple requests for interviews and information. People are more aware of how much the world’s wealth belongs to the uber-rich. Northrup talks about a patent 060606 by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates who run the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Some critics have long challenged the couple’s nonprofit work, which relies on the tax-exempt fortune they hand to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and involves directing how grant money is spent on issues ranging from global health and development to U.S. education and poverty issues. “We take the converse side of that, which is we say: ‘What can we do personally with our wealth? This gives it considerable leverage in shaping health policy priorities and intellectual norms. “Just stop talking about philanthropy and start talking about taxes.”. Since 2000, the Gates Foundation has given NPR $17.5 million through ten charitable grants—all of them earmarked for coverage of global health and education, specific issues on which Gates works. Benchmarks . The Gates Foundation has poured about $1.2 billion into malaria research since 2000. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation completed its move into a new Seattle campus this week. They also have given money to other high-profile philanthropic organizations, including Bloomberg, Rockefeller and Carnegie. “It feels like I’m at a firefighters conference and no one’s allowed to speak about water,” Bregman said. The Gates Foundation using its grants in a way that benefits the company it has invested in showing a clear conflict of interest, yet getting tax benefits from doing so. In this Feb. 1, 2019 photo, Bill Gates looks to his wife Melinda as they are interviewed in Kirkland, Wash. It is critical of emphasis on single diseases and points out that this is being done at the neglect of basic health care systems. “It makes philanthropists think harder about: ‘Am I doing the right thing?’”. The foundation's funding was instrumental in setting up the GAVI Alliance, whic… The Gates Foundation has faced past criticism for the outsize influence it wields in areas such as global health and public education. I think the attack has been on wealth,” Melinda Gates said in an interview with The Associated Press last month. And we believe that the role of philanthropy is to take risks where others can’t or won’t.”. Schurman also observes, and laments, two other features of Gates’ culture. Its influence is “dangerously skewing” aid priorities, the group says. First, “by immersing bright, high-achieving professionals in an intense workplace run by a powerful and revered leader, the Gates Foundation taught staff to ‘manage up’ (toward Bill Gates) rather than manage down (toward African farmers),” she writes. Follow Sally Ho on Twitter: https://twitter.com/_SallyHo, In this Feb. 1, 2019 photo, Bill Gates looks to his wife Melinda as they are interviewed in Kirkland, Wash. As reported by Forbes, 14 The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $100 million to fight the global COVID-19 outbreak. Working together over the last 15 years, the world has cut extreme poverty, child mortality and malaria deaths by half, reduced maternal mortality by nearly 50 percent, and driven new HIV infections down by 40 per cent.”, Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. She claims that this patent is for coronavirus vaccines wherein the Gates will insert microchips in the nanoparticles to establish and collect biometric data in exchange of cryptocurrencies. Benchmarks . The couple, whose foundation has the largest endowment in the world, are pushing back against a new wave of criticism about whether billionaire philanthropy is a force for good. The Microsoft co-founder has long pushed for more taxes and created the Giving Pledge, which has 187 wealthy members committed to giving away most of their money. What can we role model for others, and how do we get other people of great wealth to give their money away?’” she said. This report rehashes a series of unfounded claims that have been made by others and found wanting. Governments are uniquely positioned to provide the leadership and resources necessary to address structural inequalities and ensure that the right solutions reach those most in need. They are among the richest people on earth, have won plaudits for their fight to eradicate some of the world’s deadliest and prolific killers, and donated billions to better educate and feed the poorest on the planet. One project aims to bring GM vitamin A-enriched bananas to Uganda. “The Gates Foundation has spent around $34.5bn since its inception, driven by its mission to help people around the world lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. It calls for the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development to carry out an inquiry into the foundation’s work on top of a British Parliamentary inquiry. Want an ad-free experience?Subscribe to Independent Premium. In a widely cited 2014 blog post on the “miracle of vaccines,” Gates expressed enthusiasm about the “inspiring” data on vaccines and the “fantastic” and “phenomenal” progress being made to expand vaccine coverage. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has funded two entities that have played a key role in the immunization programme and are both under fire for conflict of interest. To support this claim, the site presented a February 2011 video clip of Bill Gates being interviewed by CNN’s Sanjay Gupta about his foundation’s vaccination efforts: “Much of the Foundation’s work appears to bypass local knowledge,” the report claims. The foundation said it’s spent nearly $7 million over the last three years building up a nonprofit system to support both donors and grantees. Video: Bill Gates' goal to eradicate polio. The criticism echoes the accusations made by the Indian scientist Vandana Shiva who called the Gates Foundation the “greatest threat to farmers in the developing world.”, The Foundation’s emphasis on “technological solutions” often ignores real solutions involving social and economic justice, it argues. It's the largest philanthropic foundation in the world, with an endowment worth $42.9 billion — roughly double the GDP of Uganda. The criticism echoes the accusations made by the Indian scientist Vandana Shiva who called the Gates Foundation the “greatest threat to farmers in the developing world.” Read more This is a complex challenge, and solving it will require a range of approaches as well as the collaboration of governments, NGOs, academic institutions, for-profit companies and philanthropic organisations. KIRKLAND, Wash. (AP) — Bill and Melinda Gates are pushing back against a new wave of criticism about whether billionaire philanthropy is a force for good. NPR covers the Gates Foundation extensively. “I’m not sure that the attack has been on philanthropy. The Foundation is especially pushing for the adoption of GM in Africa,” it warns. Ocasio-Cortez has said it’s immoral for billionaires to amass wealth amid extreme poverty but doesn’t villainize Bill Gates. NSE Gainer-Large Cap . (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Nifty 14,938.10-142.65. But the foundation seems to be taking some of the other criticism to heart, including the idea that Gates typically depends on technology fixes rather than getting deeply involved in the health systems of nations in which it operates. “It’s good that we all question it,” Palmer said. Far from a “neutral charitable strategy”, the Gates Foundation is about benefiting big business, especially in agriculture and health, through its “ideological commitment to promote neoliberal economic policies and corporate globalisation,” according to the report published by the campaign group Global Justice Now. This division over wealth and philanthropy spilled into the World Economic Forum last month in Davos, Switzerland, where the Gates Foundation was a sponsor and Bill Gates discussed global health. Gates funds institutions ranging from US university departments to major international development NGOs. It refuted claims that it was unaccountable, stating that it was one of the first to join the International Aid Transparency Initiative as well as reporting to the OECD. Last modified on Wed 29 Nov 2017 06.17 EST. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. On one panel, historian Rutger Bregman berated “all these stupid philanthropy schemes” and suggested such billionaire-funded giving amounted to tax avoidance that exacerbates the problems it seeks to tackle. “Much remains to be done but we are confident that the world is making progress. The Foundation is the main player in several global health partnerships and one of the single largest donors to the WHO. The latest criticism comes as Bill and Melinda Gates on Tuesday released their annual letter reviewing their work and vision, which this year focused on surprises in their priority areas. “This cannot be given by donors in the form of a climate-resilient crop or cheaper smartphone, but must be about systemic social, economic and political change – issues not represented in the foundation’s funding priorities.”. The latest criticisms are more existential, challenging whether their level of wealth is good for society and whether it’s functional to rely on the generosity of the very rich to fix its problems. Melinda Gates lauded U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for “opening our government up” on social media, though the couple say they don’t agree with all her policy proposals. These include promoting industrial agriculture, use of chemical fertilisers and expensive, patented seeds, and a focus on genetically modified seeds. Gates Foundation’s ID2020 digital identification project comes under criticism as a way to track citizens’ every move Alexis Rejouis , Staff Writer | May 28, 2020 Bill Gates is attempting to allay concerns that his ID2020 project will bring us that much closer to … That role has allowed the Gateses to position themselves to influence wealthy peers. The thing that the Gates Foundation is doing more than anything else is vaccines. Despite this, Bill and Melinda Gates are facing calls for their philanthropic Foundation, through which they have donated billions worldwide, to be subject to an international investigation, according to a controversial new report. The couple, whose foundation … The group accuse the Gates Foundation of using its massive financial clout to silence international development experts and groups which would criticise its practices. Vaccine oligarch Gates personally referred to Stone in his recent interview with Wired. The Gateses said they enjoy being a resource and host philanthropists every week at their sprawling Seattle-based foundation to share lessons from their successes and failures. Lauded for their work in eradicating polio and malaria, amongst other diseases, the report accuses the Gates Foundation of funding privatised health and promoting an increased role for private education providers. Melinda Gates said the couple see a responsibility to support other philanthropists who want to do good with their riches. Gates’ COVID-19 Plan — Vaccinate Global Population.