A fund specially for the Middle East

The Lives and Livelihoods Fund

World famous Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has entered into partnership with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for launching a new $2.5 billion project. The project value equals Dh9.2 billion and will be all  sharia-compliant fund having its focus taking care of extreme poverty within the Islamic world. This wonderful new partnership is the first for these partners as a way for making its further looking into future and making the prospects more sustainable.

Bill gates has been topping in “Forbes” ranking of rich people and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates and his wife on this project’s backing. In 2010 Bill Gates decided to donate 95% of his wealth for sustainable social welfare and charity projects including this one based on the principle that every life is equally important, and with the point of view addressing global disease and punishing poverty situations.

For achieving this, Bill Gates and his wife Melinda have set up the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation back in 2000. This is perhaps world’s richest charitable set up with a sum endowment of $42.9 billion. The foundation had paid out $33.5 billion by 2014 end having made grants sum as $3.9 billion in 2104 which was $3.6 billion by end of 2013.

There is a stark contract between wealth of Muslim countries, some are extremely rich while some like Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad are extremely poor. Some however have a mix of the two communities like Indonesia and Egypt. Some are hit by serious violence threats like Somalia, Yemen and Syria.

The Foundation takes up the new venture with the IDB with a view to do it properly and diligently making the project a success and reach where wealth needs to reach using the connections and efforts of a strong local partner like IDB in the region, allowing the venture to be sustainable, enduring and to get more than the best out of it.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has Head of Middle East Relations, Mr Hassan Al Damluji. He claims that “The Lives and Livelihoods Fund” is catalytic and sustainable in the region because of two major reasons. Firstly, because the Foundation plans to engage Gulf donors who will remain present around the place for a long time, unlike the Foundation which is a family setup and has short term plans. Other reason is because this venture will also attract further investments from people of poor countries too. The Fund floated by the Foundation will give loans to poor countries too helping for their own development.

IDB has 56 member nations out of which 31 are low-income countries and some of them are among the poorest countries in the world too. The IDB will identify and engage such countries for this the Lives and Livelihoods Fund mixing between 10 to 30% of the grant money in case the project is aligned with the Fund’s criteria maintaining good enough spread of grant receiving countries. 

Tackling unfairness

The Fund has plans to invest in four areas:

1-     Control and eradication of infectious disease eradication and control; basic health care including improved neonatal, maternal and child health.

2-     Agriculture and food safety helping the poorest grow more and feed their families together with earning a basic living providing basic infrastructure to those who do not have electricity.

3-     Small projects for water supply and sanitation.

4-     Providing digital payment set up.

Al Damluji explains that one thing links all above four areas of our interest is that all these areas are very much significant areas causing unfairness in area of project’s footprint area. Globally speaking, we need to see what really badly affects the poor throughout the world as their access to system is not the same as wealthy people.

The purpose of the project is to address poor people, as large segment as possible without considering their nationality, religion, colour or race etc, We need some global solutions to make the difference. The Foundation has identified that infectious diseases need to be addressed first. Example is cancer that affects everybody so cancer is not within our scope whereas diarrhoea and Malaria may hurt small children. Those who are wealthy can afford to have vaccines but these infectious diseases are most dangerous for the poor throughout the world.

Al Damluji further said that primary health units play important role in rural areas but poor people do not have access to large hospitals in main cities. The Fund has its focus on agriculture and specifically the small farmers. They mainly grow food and eat whole of the year not connected to grow food that can be exported like coffee for example. Regarding developing infrastructure, we want to provide electricity to the poor but without constructing powerhouses. Sources like solar energy may be considered for this purpose. In parallel sanitation is of top importance to stop infectious diseases from spreading. 

“The Lives and Livelihoods Fund” will be launched and administered from IDB to make the same sustainable. IDB has allocated $2 billion as regular capital while rest of $500 million amount as grant will be provided by donors in the next five years.  The Foundation took the initiative and was joined by ‘waqf’ by various Saudi people through Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development. Al Damluji explained that he is expecting three donors of same nature during next year to meet next promised $500 million but not to be demanded before the project takes off. The project partners have signed their understanding and now “The Lives and Livelihoods Fund” has become a legal entity. The Fund is funding in three main areas helping them to work like an institution. The areas are:

1-     First, definition of areas for financing like sectors and designing the right mix of grant.

2-     Second, holding donors’ meeting every six months to act as governance board.

3-     Third, being advisor to IDB as they have started using the money.

Al Damluji showed his seriousness about the project to show an impact on what it has been targeted making a sense as the Fund is not aiming at profit alone. The project is meant for making a difference on lives of extremely poor people by reducing maternal and infant mortality followed by improving farmers’ productivity. The project objectives also include access to power and banking facilities for the poor. As the concerned governments are interested in knowing impact of the project over their economies, the governments want to know if the project will boost their economies. For sure, all these four areas will have definite impact on economies. This effect is definite but it is indirect and will show up in the long term, these being important drivers to improve economies. 

About the Muslim world

Al Damluji shared details of “The Lives and Livelihoods Fund” that it is the largest initiative in the Middle East and it will show how the Fund has plans to work. The venture is a partnership having done several similar projects in the past having partnerships with UN organizations and various countries to address such problems in large scale. Gavi Alliance is one of the work successfully completed in the past for childhood immunization when the Alliance purchase vaccines for all 72 poor countries for ensuring onward supply at low price. The recent initiative is the first of its kind in Middle East having a bank of the shareholders that are not from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and not even they are donors by tradition too. In this case Middle East is the base and Fund is focused on Muslim countries specifically.

The project sponsors are clear that they may not be able to save the whole world from disease and poor living even if they are resourceful.  The funds do not match with needs of the poor globally, we can fight the problems in partnerships and that fighting together is the objective.