On Tuesday 24 June, members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Development (DEVE), in collaboration with other parliamentary committees, welcomed Bill Gates, Chair of the philanthropic Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), for an exchange of views on the role of official development assistance (ODA) and innovation as levers for improving health and living conditions in the countries of the South.
MEPs probed Mr Gates’ views on the future of development cooperation against a backdrop of a sudden withdrawal of US foreign aid, but also of a gradual disengagement from ODA in several countries, including European ones.
In front of the DEVE Committee, Mr Gates noted that poverty and malnutrition rates were rising in certain regions of the world and that access to healthcare was declining. “The outlook is rather gloomy”, he acknowledged at the start of the session, calling for this decline to be stemmed.
Depending on the political persuasion in the Chamber, various issues were addressed by the MEPs, including the involvement of the private sector, the weakening of multilateralism, the corruption of local governments in southern countries, development aid in remote areas, vaccine production and the role of taxation in donor countries.
Health. Mr Gates highlighted the BMGF’s work in the field of health, praising its strategic collaboration with the European Union through the GAVI Vaccine Alliance. The American entrepreneur emphasised the central role played by his foundation in research and development to combat HIV, malaria and child malnutrition, among other things.
AI. “We’re going to work on effectiveness to reverse the current trend”, Bill Gates told MEPs. The Microsoft co-founder emphasised the potential of artificial intelligence in developing countries, particularly in the fields of education, communication - by facilitating exchanges with populations speaking specific dialects, for example - healthcare, food security and agriculture. In particular, he mentioned poultry farming, a valuable source of protein, and weather forecasting tools to optimise farming practices. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)