NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

By James Thorne and Todd Bishop

Bank accounts, cell phones and biometric identification could help spread resources more efficiently and equitably in developing nations, according to a new report from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Those technologies helped the Indian government improve an initiative to distribute cooking gas in the country after legacy programs resulted in widespread waste, fraud and abuse.

The Gates Foundation’s annual Goalkeepers Data Report takes stock of progress toward the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, a set of objectives to curb poverty, climate change, inequality and injustice by 2030. The latest report, just released, calls for renewed efforts related to primary health care, digital inclusion and adaptation to climate change.

Despite advancements in some areas, Bill Gates lamented the “stunning” degree of inequality that still exists in the world — not only among different countries but within individual nations. “We see that where you’re born and what gender you are do have a major effect on this global inequality,” Gates said on a conference call with journalists.