You know times are tough when a typically upbeat missive from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation starts sounding grim.
Its sixth annual Goalkeepers Report is an opportunity for the foundation to take stock of efforts to reach six of the UN Sustainable Development Goals — and things aren’t going well.
“As bad as the data makes it seem, the real situation might be even worse,” reads the introduction from Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates, who co-chair the multi-billion dollar foundation.
The report released Monday night calls out the COVID-19 pandemic and wars in Ukraine and Yemen as significant recent challenges that have helped stall progress on 18 measurable indicators that tie into the UN goals.
But as they reliably do, French Gates and Gates assure that there is still hope, with an emphasis on innovation to drive outsized gains in the future. As an example of unexpected progress, the report cites the medical treatments and prevention efforts that have dramatically reduced AIDS-related deaths.
“Human ingenuity can render our careful projections irrelevant and make our boldest aspirations seem timid,” the two wrote.
In a call last week with news reporters, Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman said that over the past 20 years, there has been rapid progress on a multitude of “indicators of human well-being” that include health, poverty reduction and education.
The pandemic and current wars have helped disrupt the trends, cutting off a large volume of food exports to Africa and exacerbating food shortages, diminishing educational opportunities, eroding women’s economic progress and other harmful effects.
For more than two decades, the Seattle-based Gates Foundation has tackled issues including global health and vaccines and agricultural development in low-income countries. It has more than $70 billion in assets, including a $20 billion gift that Gates made to the endowment in July. The organization recently said that by 2026 it would increase its annual giving to $9 billion, up from $6 billion.
French Gates and Gates, who announced their divorce in May 2021, separately penned essays featured in this year’s report. The two co-lead their foundation, though they’re about halfway through a two-year trial period to determine whether joint operations are viable. If not, French Gates will resign as co-chair and trustee.
In her piece, French Gates wrote about gender equality and women’s empowerment globally — which are issues that her company, Pivotal Ventures, is tackling in the U.S. She noted that while COVID caused serious setbacks in these areas, the struggle is much broader.
“The world still hasn’t focused enough on gender equality—and when it does, it treats symptoms, not the cause,” said French Gates.
She shared some of the solutions, including digital banking that provides women more access to resources and protects their finances from being taken and spent by spouses. She also promoted better access to childcare, noting the significant returns to individuals and societies when mothers are able to pursue careers.
Gates turned his attention to food insecurity, and the need for organizations and governments to invest in long-term farming innovation rather than simply paying for short-term food aid.
His solutions include what he has nicknamed “magic” seeds — which are new genetic strains of crops better suited for the harsher conditions created by climate change. Gates also promotes technology to guide more targeted use of fertilizers and AI to predict smarter agricultural strategies in a warmer, drier world.
But just last week, activists, farmers and faith leaders who gathered from around the world for a farming conference criticized many of the Gates Foundation’s efforts to bring new tech to African agriculture. According to Seattle Times coverage, critics say that the foundation has not reduced hunger, and the practices it promotes have caused environmental damage and sent farmers into debt.
In the report, Gates didn’t mention the alleged shortcomings of his organization’s agricultural efforts.
“[M]any countries don’t grow enough yet, and climate change is making farming even harder,” Gates said. “That challenge can’t be solved with donations. It requires innovation.”
