Bill Gates has warned that cuts to foreign aid are set to increase global child mortality for the first time in decades. Over 80% of USAID contracts have been reduced since the Trump era, impacting vulnerable communities significantly. Philanthropy should not merely fill the aid gap but instead harness its capacity for innovation and risk-taking to address systemic issues. Current traditional philanthropic models are inadequate to confront complex global challenges. Increasingly, philanthropists must recognize their potential to effect substantial social change amidst growing uncertainty.
Philanthropy, at its best, isn't built to replace government-scale aid. Its real potential lies in its agency to take a longer term view and absorb risk needed to tackle the seemingly intractable issues we face.
There is a real danger that the primary focus of philanthropic funding pivots towards being a backstop for foreign aid. My fear is that this new role detracts from the real power of philanthropy.
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