29 June 2006

U.N. Agencies Will Gain from Private American Donation, U.N. Says

Investor Buffett gives $31 billion to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

 

American investor Warren Buffett recently donated $31 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation supports health-related initiatives around the world, including HIV/AIDS education and vaccine research. (©AP/WWP)

Bill and Melinda Gates with American investor Warren Buffett (©AP/WWP)

By Carolee Walker
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- American investor Warren Buffett’s $31 billion donation to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a generous and welcome gift, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a briefing on June 27.

“The Secretary-General has always encouraged increased partnerships with civil society and the private sector, to provide additional resources for humanitarian and development actions,” Dujarric said.

The Gates Foundation, which was started by Bill and Melinda Gates, supports health-related initiatives around the world, including HIV/AIDS education and vaccine research. Gates is the founder of Microsoft Corporation. The organization works closely with a number of U.N. agencies, including the World Health Organization.  (See related article.)

Warren Buffett, investor and chair of Berkshire Hathaway investment company, has been a friend of Gates’s since the early 1990s, according to published reports. With Buffett’s donation to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Buffett will become a trustee of the Seattle-based foundation. Gates is a member of the board of Berkshire Hathaway.

“The United States lives and flourishes in a global economy,” wrote Steven Gunderson, in an article in the May State Department electronic journal, Giving: U.S. Philanthropy.  “As a result, American philanthropy is increasingly global.” (See related article.)

According to Gunderson, engaging in the global community requires partnerships with “philanthropic colleagues all over the world.” For example, the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Global Development Alliance comprises more than 1,400 organizations, including international and local businesses, private foundations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and governments in 97 countries. The alliance is dedicated to improving economic growth, addressing health and environmental issues and expanding access to education and technology.

During 2004, U.S. NGOs donated at least $6.8 billion to developing countries. The Hudson Institute’s Center for Global Prosperity report, called the Index on Global Philanthropy (PDF, 83 pages), tallied $71 billion in international donations by U.S. private charities, religious organizations, universities, corporations, foundations and immigrants sending money home in 2004.  (See related article.)

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has an endowment of $30.6 billion. Buffett’s donation would make it possible for the foundation to double its efforts bringing medical research and healthcare advances to developing countries. In the United States, the Gates Foundation supports public education programs and technology in public libraries.  Additional information is available on the foundation’s Web site.

See also a State Department fact sheet on the United States and international development, available on the department’s Web site. 

For information on how U.S. foreign assistance is affecting lives, see Partnership for a Better Life.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)