Bill Gates releases 2010 annual letter

Jan 25th, 2010 9:49 AM UTC
By Chris Scott

As he has done in years past, today Bill Gates released his annual letter. This year’s letter focuses on “innovation and how it can make the difference between a bleak future and a bright one.”

You can find the full 2010 letter here, and a short excerpt below including a mention of ONE:

In total, foreign aid from the richest countries in 2008 was $121 billion. Specific data is available at stats.oecd.org/qwids, and it’s something I watch closely because the generosity of these governments is key to long-term success.

Because of budget deficits, there is significant risk that aid budgets will either be cut or not increase much. In the table below, I show some countries’ budget deficits as a percentage of gross domestic product (or GDP, a measure of the overall size of the economy). Many of these percentages represent unprecedented peacetime deficits.

The public may not prioritize keeping foreign aid at high levels because so many of them have not heard how effective it is. Some formed their image of foreign aid during the Cold War, when money was sent to buy the allegiance of a dictator with very little control to make sure it was well spent. We need to get the successes to be far more visible than they are today. The organization ONE is a key partner in helping with this, and they have Bono’s brilliance as well as a strong staff. In October Melinda and I did a presentation we called “LIVING PROOF: Why We Are Impatient Optimists” to show how well government investments in health are working. You can watch it at www.livingproofproject.org. This version was focused on U.S. giving, but the message is even more appropriate for the rich countries that are even more generous than the United States.

TAGS: Bill Gates, Living Proof