While controversy is not new to Bono's Product (RED) campaign, a new level of scrutiny has brought an entirely disappointing and discouraging amount of misuse of funds to the surface....
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Report: Corruption Plagues Charity Backed By Bono
As much as two thirds of some grants lost or misspent
Celebrity do-gooder Bono can't be happy about this: the nonprofit he is raising millions of dollars for is plagued with fraud.
As much as two thirds of grants donated to celebrity-supportedGlobal Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria have been lost in corruption, the Associated Press found.
The findings are a major blow to U2 frontman's goals for (Product) Red, the global charity brand he co-launched that donates a large portion of its proceeds to the organization to fight and raise awareness about AIDS.
Forged documents and improper bookkeeping indicate that a large percentage of the money in the $21.7 billion development fund was lost or embezzled, investigators told the Associated Press. And so far, the inspector general's office has only examined a fraction of the $10 billion spent since the organization began in 2002. ...
This article is from a couple of years ago, but was recently brought to my attention. It tackles the Africa question from a different angle than we are accustomed to. In the global charity space, usually the discussion is over the observable results of a project - does the water well work? how much has disease been reduced? The 'secular' metrics of a project are highly important.
But what about cultural and spiritual metrics? How are we challenging and changing people's lives, hearts, and families in ways that can promote development. The article below tackles this question in a very unique way. Enjoy - -
As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God Missionaries, not aid money, are the solution to Africa's biggest problem - the crushing passivity of the people's mindset by Matthew Parris
Before Christmas I returned, after 45 years, to the country that as a boy I knew as Nyasaland. Today it's Malawi, and The Times Christmas Appeal includes a small British charity working there. Pump Aid helps rural communities to install a simple pump, letting people keep their village wells sealed and clean. I went to see this work.
It inspired me, renewing my flagging faith in development charities. But travelling in Malawi refreshed another belief, too: one I've been trying to banish all my life, but an observation I've been unable to avoid since my African childhood. It confounds my ideological beliefs, stubbornly refuses to fit my world view, and has embarrassed my growing belief that there is no God.
Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good. ...
Here's a great example of someone being thoughtful about their personal approach to giving. The UK needs people to step up and make significant pledges like this!
Many thanks to our friends who joined us in fasting for World Water Day 2010. ... Together, we changed thousands of lives. Thanks so much to JJ Starr for the awesome pics!!! ... Here are a few of the photos he brought back from our first completed water projects in India ...
In wealthy nations, we pour clean water from a faucet each morning. Not so for the global poor -- where nearly a billion people drink, cook and bathe with dirty water from infested swamps. This unsafe water causes disease and death, while also keeping women from work and children out of school.
On World Water Day this year -- March 22 -- we must take time out to remember the 4,500 children who die each day for a lack of access to clean, safe water.
In rural villages, children walk an average of 3.5 miles every day to fetch water from a smelly mudhole. Over 50% of the world’s hospital beds are filled with patients who suffer from water-borne illness.
If we drill a clean water well, the kids can go to school, and clinics are less crowded. Clean water access is the very first step -- a foundation for life, health, education and opportunity.
Since I began studying and living the grit of global poverty and economic development years ago, one burning question has consumed me: What is the most I can do as one person?
Of course government and business -- if directed properly -- could both help the global poor in a big way. Real leaders in these areas must pursue clear property rights and rule of law while promoting sustainable growth through trade and commerce.
But for those of us who are everyday citizens -- not currently elected leaders or multinational executives -- what is our best way to serve the poorest?
In the global poverty dialogue, there are policy experts who debate the merits of various interventions -- vitamins, food, medicine, infrastructure. Critics of water wells argue that some water projects fail, fall out of use, or are not sufficient in themselves.
Their critiques are important. We must develop ‘best practices’ from successful water projects (which are the vast majority). Further, we must create integrated solutions that create impact through a multi-faceted approach.
In a few years, we will see highly innovative rural projects that center on clean water access while transforming the entire village. Effective charities can build many other capacities around a water well -- training the community in well maintenance and repair, teaching hygiene and sanitation, and providing needed vitamins and medicine.
Among other big players, the Gates Foundation is investing heavily each year into building water and sanitation projects -- as well as discovering ways that the most effective solutions can be replicated on a global scale.
What’s incredible is that while Gates gives away a few billion dollars each year, the generosity of individual Americans is nearly 100 times larger -- some $230 billion in annual charity comes from all the ‘little guys’ rather than corporate or foundation grants.
What does this mean for us? Thoughtful public giving can change the world many times faster than the biggest headline donors. We are in fact ‘the change’ for the world -- and it is our duty to become informed global philanthropists.
It is up to us to change lives with clean water. For the price of lunch -- only $10 -- I can give one person access to clean water for a lifetime. If just one in ten Americans gave $150 to clean water, we could solve half of the most urgent crisis of the global poor -- giving clean water to 500 million people.
To create real global change, informed citizens must find excellent solutions and spread the word. Will you be the one in ten to change lives?
Water is the most urgent need of the global poor. In memory of the thousands who die each day from unsafe water, please seek out a great water charity, spread the word, and change lives today.
World Water Day is March 22. Rich Halvorson is a social entrepreneur and founder of GiveH2O, a coalition of high-efficiency charities that have given clean water to over 1 million people.
This year's Fall Campaign really came together well. We had 225 people fast 1 meal a week for 12 weeks and give the money they would have spent out on food ($10) towards clean water projects that impact the most impoverished in the world. The original 225 people raised $27,000.00 that has funded 9 wells (see check). Congratulations Everyone! And in order to reach our original goal of 30K, 77 people have agreed to do one more month,enabling us to fund our 10th well by the end of January! So proud of everyone involved and hope that your lives were enhanced by making tangible sacrifices each week for the good of those in need. So excited for what's in store and hope to create more smiles this year (like the one here at a Global Fast well in Liberia).
To be honest, I am not looking forward to tomorrow. The last couple Wednesdays I've fasted, i've been tired, lost energy, and been in a little funk the second half of the day. And I also find myself complaining about it a lot.
But when I remember the people we met (like the woman on the left), I am reminded why we're doing it the way we are doing it. By fasting and being uncomfortable for the afternoon, I am forced to remember how good I have it. And regardless of how much I want to complain (and still do), I am confronted by the fact that missing a meal is not even comparable to having to drink muddy water out of a hole in the ground. My hope is that by doing Global Fast, my heart starts to change, so that I actually care more about people in desperate need than I do my own comfort, at least for one meal a week. Its a step towards compassion, something that the world can always use.
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