The words of the Nobel Prize for Economics Angus Deaton are the value framework on which the activity of our Foundation is based and the idea of social intervention and philanthropy that we have.
“Across the developing world, children are dying because they are born in the wrong place—not from exotic, incurable diseases, but from routine childhood illnesses that we've known how to treat for nearly a century now. Without a state capable of providing routine obstetric and pediatric health care, these children will continue to die.
Similarly, without government capacity, regulations and their implementation do not work properly, and as a result companies find it difficult to operate. Without the proper functioning of civil courts, there is no guarantee that innovative entrepreneurs can claim compensation for their ideas.
The lack of government capacity – the services and safety net that citizens of rich countries take for granted – is a major cause of poverty and misery around the world. Without an effective state that works with active and engaged citizens, there is little chance of achieving the growth needed to abolish global poverty.
Unfortunately, the rich countries of the world are currently making matters worse. Foreign aid, ie transfers from rich countries to poor countries, are especially relevant in terms of health; in fact, thanks to these funds many people who are alive today would have died. But foreign aid on the other hand weakens the capacity building process of the local state.
Poor people need government to have better lives.
Aid does not guarantee what the poor need most – effective government working with them today and tomorrow.
For this reason - we add - we work to strengthen public institutions as an antidote to poverty and inequality.
