The Guardian: Charities to Pick Up Bill for Sweeping Aid Cuts?

Governments that reduce taxes and cut programs cannot expect charitable giving to replace funding for an array of health, education or foreign aid programs. The most vulnerable will suffer, with disease, conflict, pollution, illiteracy and poverty posing cross-border consequences. Charitable giving may have created an incentive for governments to pursue budget cuts in every area, then replacing paid librarians with volunteers or relying on charities during major disasters. “Although it is the world’s largest private philanthropic organisation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, founded in 2000, spends just over $3bn (£2.25bn) a year on development assistance,” reports Kate Hodal for the Guardian, adding this is “one-tenth of the US aid budget and almost one-fiftieth of the global aid budget, which stands at $143bn.” She spoke with philanthropist Bill Gates prior to the UN general assembly meeting. The United States is the largest global aid donor, and Gates is working with members of US Congress, outlining how combatting polio or HIV in the world’s poorest nations has global benefits. The Gates Foundation and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation report that progress has been made in reducing extreme poverty but NGOs and charitable foundations cannot handle challenges on their own. – YaleGlobal