Problems with Billionaire Philanthropy: The Global Justice Now Report on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

February 8, 2016
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Global Justice Now, a NGO based in the UK released a report on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), criticizing it on a number of reasons and questioning their overall positive contribution to society. The report relies solely on publicly available data and statements from experts and insiders of relevant fields. They criticize the BMGF for the following, prime reasons:

  • Lack of democratic accountability and oversight despite being the 12th largest development aid donor
  • Extensive support for an intensified role of multinational corporations worldwide
  • Extensive support for GM research, including financing for GM PR
  • Extensive support for intellectual property laws, including patents on genetic material including crop seeds etc.
  • It’s Microsoft foundation, a company that has cost citizens around the world vastly more in tax evasions than the BMFG has spent anywhere to date
  • It’s financial ties to Wall Street, investing in numerous highly questionable corporations, e.g. from the fossil fuel industry
  • Control over global health media reporting through ties to various media outlets
  • Reliance on technology-solutionism and disregard of local needs and expertise

Original source: http://www.globaljustice.org.uk/sites/default/files/gated_development_final_version.pdf

Related Material:
Common Dreams: Just Who Exactly Benefits Most from the Global Giving of Billionaires Like Bill Gates?

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