Gates of 2015 open letter: mobile banking is changing the lives of poor people
On January 22, Bill Gates and his wife Melinda 2015 issued open letters. Gates open letter predicts the world over the next 15 years. Gates said that after 15 years, child deaths by half, Africa will achieve food self-sufficiency, mobile banking services will help completely change the lives of poor people, better software will trigger a learning revolution.
Following is the Bill and Melinda Gates open letter
40 years ago, Bill Gates and his childhood friend Paul Allen (Paul Allen) said, they bet, software and personal computers will change the way all work and play. In fact, this is not the true meaning of gambling, but with the magical power of software realization of computerized personal and human empowerment opportunities. At that time, the idea of some people don’t believe in them, or even think they are crazy, but it turned out that: they won.
15 years ago, we both make a similar bet. We believe that by supporting innovative work in the area of health and education, can significantly reduce inequality phenomenon. With this philosophy, we created the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000. To date, we have seen very encouraging progress. Therefore, we decided 15 years ago on the basis of “doubling down”, selected the next 15 years to achieve the ambitious goal. We saw an opportunity, and want to fully take advantage of it. We bet on their own credibility, time, and money, and invite others to join our ranks. This is because we believe that to speed up the poverty reduction process, brought about great changes in the world, now is the best time.
This still would argue, we make this bet irrationally. Skeptics see problems in the world, will draw the conclusions of the world is getting worse. We certainly should not be ignored, a small number of countries with the worst will continue struggling.
But we believe that over the next 15 years will be a major breakthrough for the benefit of the majority of the population in poor countries. Their body will be healthier and will live longer. They will gain unprecedented opportunities, access to education, eating nutritious foods, and benefit from mobile banking services. Made the breakthrough thanks to technological innovation–from the new vaccine and resistance to damage crops, to cheaper smartphones and tablet devices–also come from these new things can be delivered into the hands of more people of innovation. Rich countries also will continue to produce exciting new developments but relatively speaking, improves the lives of the poor is of fundamental significance, these improvements are the Foundation of healthy and productive lives. Rich countries have more people in ultra high definition movies on the screen, which is all well and good but if poor countries have more parents to know their children will not die, this progress is not great?
There is reason to ask a question, we predict that progress will be hampered by climate change? The most serious consequences of climate change does not appear within 15 years, but the long-term threat is serious. The world needs to start now, to act more aggressively to develop cheaper, can be provided and do not emit carbon dioxide energy. The next 15 years is a crucial period of development of these energy sources, so as to the impacts of climate change renewable energy deployment preparation for good before it gets worse. Gaicizheng person (not by our Foundation) to promote work in this area, he would continue to appeal.
For the next 15 years we will change the world filled with longing. Here’s what we foresee some breakthroughs.
Breakthrough: healthy
Child deaths by half, eliminated the disease numbers more than ever.
Not long ago, the world was divided into two halves.
In half of them, almost all children were vaccinated, well-fed, diarrhoea, pneumonia and other common ailments can get appropriate treatment. During this half world, mortality rate of children under five years of age is well below 1%.
While the other world is another story. This half of the world’s immunization coverage is spotty at best, children were often malnourished, common children diseases treatment. About 15% children will die before the age of five, this proportion was much higher in some countries.
The Gates Foundation, created at the beginning, we try to find the most strategic ways to achieve equality of the two world. We believe that if the world is to save the poor child’s life a little more innovative–for example, innovation should be input in this regard and in order to increase computer speed, reduced innovation broadly flat computers do – then we will be making a lot of progress.
Reviews since 1990, more than 20 years, progress achieved throughout the world, we have reason to believe that the global health equality is realizable goal. Health sector investment will increase the coverage of existing vaccines and treatments, and the strengthening of research and development promotes the development of new vaccines and new treatments. Mortality rate of children under five years of age has dropped by half.
We predict that the next 15 years, the pace of progress will go faster. Unprecedented progress in the world in the field of global health. “The other half” for the world, these goals have been palpable.
–To reduce by half the number of deaths in children under five. In 1990, the global mortality rate for children under five years of age is 10%. today, this ratio is 5%. by 2030, that number will be reduced to 2.5%. at that time, almost all national immunization programmes will include diarrhea and pneumonia vaccines, the disease is the leading cause of death among children. Simple methods (such as hand-washing) and innovation (such as new toilets specially designed for impoverished areas) can improve health conditions significantly reduce the spread of the disease. And we also know how to help more mothers with the right methods such as breastfeeding, maternal and infant skin contact, preventing the newborns died within a month after birth. (Neonatal deaths deaths declined more slowly than older children, now accounts for almost half of the total number of child deaths. ) In the past 25 years, many poor countries have developed a strong health care system; the next 15 years, other countries will learn the philosophy of these countries and give more, higher-quality care to newborns and young children. In this way, there will be millions of people to escape the doom of death, access to opportunities for survival and development.
–Reduce maternal deaths by two-thirds. world-wide, there are more and more choices in medical and health institutions rather than the mother of home delivery. For example, since 2005, the maternity hospital in Rwanda increased from 31% to 72%, in Cambodia, the proportion rose from 20% to 57%. keep supplies adequate to ensure their health care professionals trained, we can take advantage of this global trend and help women to childbirth safer around the world. In addition, as more women access to contraceptives, information about safe spacing of maternal mortality would decline. So more women, fewer mothers death toll.
–The eradication of polio from the Earth, and the other three diseases. Complete eradication of a disease that is very difficult–in fact, 1980, smallpox is the only complete eradication of a disease in human history. But as long as continued efforts, we can eradicate four diseases before 2030. This year we can bring polio out of Africa over the next few years we can make the disease disappear on a global scale. Guinea worm disease is a disease that can cause severe pain, loss of capacity to act for months, can be up to several feet out of the parasite from the patient’s legs. Is pleased to note that, this disease is disappearing as just around the corner, thanks mainly to United States ex-President Jimmy Carter and the Carter Center (Carter Center) efforts. We will eradicate elephantiasis, river blindness and trachoma blindness, these types of disease causing tens of millions of people in poor countries people with disabilities. Pharmaceutical companies are making large donations to contain drugs for these diseases. In addition, in recent years, the development of digital maps, we can find the epidemic areas, thus better targeted use of the drug. Last year there were 800 million people get these free drug.
–Find the mysteries of malaria. By 2030, human beings are unable to completely wipe out malaria, it means we have access to everything you need to eliminate malaria. These include protecting patients from bite to transmit malaria vaccines, malaria mosquitoes completely cleared from the body by a single dose of the drug, and can immediately determine whether people infected with malaria diagnostic testing. Now, the prototype of the technology is in the development stage. After 15 years, we will be fully prepared, as malaria as smallpox and polio from the face of the Earth.
–Transition achieved in the fight against AIDS. With the advancement of vaccines or treatment, treated in sub-Saharan Africa will eventually exceed the number of new infections. Once we have the world’s worst AIDS areas to do that, AIDS cases will occur around the world since the first decline since the disease was discovered more than 30 years ago. This list includes only part of the ground-breaking goals, but it was a good show we achieved amazing progress in just 15 years. As more and more innovations benefiting the poor, the world will be at a faster pace towards a brighter future.
Breakthrough II: agriculture
In Africa to achieve food self-sufficiency.
Qiaoyisi·sangdiya (Joyce Sandiya) are not farmed, church volunteers. Therefore, when Melinda 2012 visited Tanzania, Joyce and her always with a stream of preachers like passion. That year, Joyce grows a new drought-resistant corn for the first time. When the drought came, most of her crop died, but corn yields were higher than ever before. She sold the excess corn, corn sales revenue for families to buy nutritious food such as beans, vegetables, leaving the rest of the money to pay tuition for their kids. She said: “(maize) seed, let us get rid of the hunger, a rich life. ”
Tens of millions of African farmers, like Joyce, and their story explains why agricultural innovation is so important.
Sub-Saharan Africa, 70% of the population are farmers. (The United States the ratio of 2%.), however, has to rely on imports and food aid to ensure food supplies in Africa. Although Africa is the poorest continent in the world, but still want to spend about $ 50 billion a year to purchase food from rich countries.
Leads to one of the causes of this phenomenon are African farmers ‘ crop yields are far lower than the United States. For example, Africa’s average corn yields about 30 bushels per acre (30 bushels per acre), and United States maize yield per hectare is five times more than twice as many in Africa.
A related problem is that Africans eat the food lacks nutrition and variety, unable to achieve a healthy diet. For example, many Africans almost exclusively eat more starchy staple–corn, rice or cassava. Therefore, the problem of malnutrition in this predominantly agricultural land flooded, hampering children’s cognitive and physical development, thereby affecting the child mortality rate to children’s learning in school, and then to labour productivity in all aspects of the city.
However, the next 15 years, agricultural innovations in the field of the Elimination of these ironic cruelty. Humans have developed better fertilizers, as well as a high-yielding, more nutritious, more drought-resistant crops. If African farmers access to these technologies, as well as other available technologies, is theoretically could double production. With the increase of productivity, farmers will grow more diverse crops, they can sell the surplus to buy vegetables, eggs, milk and meat, and improve the family’s diet. With the right investments, we can provide farmers with information and innovations, productivity for the entire African continent 50%.
Agricultural extension is the process of peasants ‘ access to information – what to plant seeds, crop rotation to protect the soil, how to sell for the best price in the market. This process is very complicated, and expensive. Traditional agricultural extension needs highly trained agricultural experts, they need to be familiar with the language of the various parts of the vast territory and crops. In addition, although at least half of all farm women in Africa, but tend to favour male farmer of agriculture extension (for example, may focus on the males grow more crops). So even if female farmers, like male farmers, can equal access to seeds and fertilizers, and their productivity is still inferior to men. Investment in agricultural extension, agricultural extension to benefit more farmers in more areas-both male and also services women; both commercial farmers, also serves small farmers–this is the way to allow innovation to fully benefit. We have also seen a promising trend: as more farmers own a cell phone, they can receive various information via text message, from weather forecasting to the current market price, you name it.
We need farmers to benefit as much as possible, because of the challenges they face more and more severe. Africa’s population growth means that they will need to feed 200 million people. With the passage of time, climate change will lead to increased flood and drought disasters, making agricultural production more difficult. Climate volatility can result in increased harvests and crop failures – hence, improving productivity, improving food storage is essential. If farmers can grow, storing more food, can survive famine.
Except for low productivity, and achieve food self-sufficiency in Africa faces other restrictions. For example, the infrastructure on the African continent is not perfect, the food nearly impossible transported to need to be sent to the site. (The most extreme example: the area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Western Europe, with more than 60 million people, but the country’s 2000 miles of asphalt, and any medium sized towns in Western Europe. ) In this region is difficult to trade, and airlift food from other continents to Africa is often easier than to drive hundreds of miles of land transport.
Is pleased to note that, in some countries is building a better roads. Recently, Ghana has widened its agricultural heartland between the airports, seaports and highways, only this time a measure of domestic transport by two-thirds. Senegal and other countries are removing numerous checkpoints, land transportation more smoothly.
Through the growing more pluralistic and more nutritious crops, and to guarantee timely transportation, food security in Africa can be achieved before 2030. In case of necessity, of course, Africa still imports food, but will also greatly improve exports, resulting in trade surplus. Occurrence frequency reduces famine – a true famine comes, can also deal with African countries themselves. Current developments in the field of catchword was “Africa rising” (Africa Rising). Agriculture is the backbone of African economies, agricultural advances could contribute to large-scale poverty reduction, improving the lives of people across the continent.
Breakthrough San: banking services
Mobile banking services will help completely change the lives of poor people.
Poor financial situation is very complicated. “Kenya financial journal” (Kenya Financial Diaries) is a very interesting project, documenting hundreds of Kenya one year’s financial situation. Projects many times mentioned that people come up with a few dollars and had to give up the medical or let the children drop out of school.
Facing these painful choices for the poor, not only because they do not have enough assets, but also because they could not through the effective use of banking services property.
If wealth such as jewelry stores or animal form, there is no easy draw piecemeal funding, to meet daily expenses. In fact, poor use of financial management efficiency is very low. Savings in a way that hid the cash in their home, or gradual depreciation of goods after the acquisition date. If they want to send money to friends and family, helping relatives and friends through difficult times, will need to put a full day’s work to go for a trip, or find someone you trust to help them. If they need to borrow money, and lenders may had to loansharks. Due to availability of cheap, convenient financial services, poor people had difficult life more difficult.
The next 15 years, however, digital banking service will allow the poor to better control their own property, and help them change their lives.
Key to achieving this goal is the mobile phone. In developing countries has a sound regulatory framework, people are using their phones to save money, and use like a debit card phone spending. By 2030, the 2 billion people who do not have bank accounts will now use phone credit and payments. By then, the mobile money service providers will offer a full range of financial services, including an interest-bearing savings accounts, credit and insurance.
Traditional banks are unable to serve the poor, because the cost of doing so is too high. Therefore, currently 2.5 billion adults do not have bank accounts. Some people in the small village of loans or savings minimal, opened and operated a branch does not work in these places. Referring to financial services for the poor, most people think of micro-credit, which in poor countries to do business with women small loans. Micro-credit has helped millions of people, but only one of the poor people need financial services, microfinance interest rates are relatively high, but these services are only a fraction of the help to the poorest people.
Develop profitable mobile banking company serving the poor, because dealing with near-zero marginal cost of a digital deal. And so much of the mobile phone users in developing countries–many more than 70% of adults are mobile phone users-so volume can be very big. Facing tens of millions of transactions, mobile money service providers charge a small Commission per transaction will be as wealthy entities banking services through service to the poor for profit. Once these businesses started, there will be competitive and innovative services, such as agriculture or education-related special savings and credit schemes.
Bangladesh’s fastest-growing financial services company is a mobile money service provider named bKash. Company starts in less than four years, handling capacity is about 2 million daily transactions, deals worth a total of nearly $ 1 billion a month.
Beautiful vision is not automatically achieved. In this area, people are still trying to overcome some obstacles, such as mobile phones spread is still unequal. Only 46% of women in Bangladesh have mobile phones, compared to 76% men with mobile phones in the country. This means they are difficult to obtain services similar to the bKash, as well as the opportunities brought about by the digital economy.
To allow developing countries the regulator amend its own financial regulations, there is still a lot of work to do. If legislation to restrict digital banking operations – the majority of national legislation – the innovators will still be shut out.
Another key to making full use of digital currency is to ensure that there is sufficient business to facilitate exchange between users on digital cash and cash. If this is not possible, the digital economy will fail to start. If every community has enough retail stores offer such services, will be able to jump into the mainstream of the digital economy.
Digital is an interesting point of financial innovation and innovation began in some poor countries. If we have to wait for decades, banks in the developed world will find some digital banking tools, and these tools will benefit developing countries from top to bottom. But because of the poor much-needed banking and serving the poor customers profitable, entrepreneurs in developing countries make the unboiled water in this area – some of them will one day benefit the developed countries from the bottom up.
Breakthrough four: education
Better software will trigger a learning revolution.
Last fall, met through the school gates in Arizona for undergraduate students. One is called xiaoen·Li (ShawnLee), who used to be a construction worker, returned to classes at the University in order to create a better life to his young son. Sean told Gates he had worked very hard in traditional schools, online learning can make him easier to find a balance between school and work.
But if we poor countries ask street vendors willing to take online courses, they are afraid that it will only laugh. The idea seems absurd. But it shouldn’t be so; one day in the future, they will change their opinion.
In the United States, Gates Foundation donation for education donated more than for other industries, because as we all know, education is to enable each United States child the best way to fully tap the potential in life. We focus only on certain projects funded by United States students and teachers. But the core of work – online courses – will become a global resource, any person owning a Smartphone or tablet device, can access this resource.
With high-speed mobile network development, and smart phones have become as cheap as traditional phones, online education will be developed in full swing. For the residents of rich countries that online education is an important step forward. For other countries, especially those that need educated workers due to economic growth, online education is going to be a revolution.
Think about 15 years ago, people are beginning to pay attention to online education, so-called online education but aimed the camera at that time university lecturer, press the record key again. Students unable to participate in an online test, was unable to communicate with each other. No interaction of online education at that time.
Technology has improved tremendously now, like, right now the Khan Academy (Khan Academy) website in the coming 15 years technology will make even greater progress. Child’s primary school before they can use Smartphones to learn numbers and letters of the mother, which made her win at the starting line. Software can be difficult to identify what children learn, and make adjustments to accommodate her learning process; children can be in the form of more colorful with teachers and other students learning together; when learning a language, she can practice speaking in a loud voice, pronunciation feedback through software. (Some sites already have this feature currently, but technology will further improve in the future. ) Of many current online courses and career development is out of touch, but that will be changing. If you want to be a medical worker, you can learn math, physics, chemistry, and other disciplines to learn to what extent to meet the professional requirements, and most of the studies you can complete online. Some content needs to be localized in order to adapt to different regions and languages. But the basic content does not change, mathematical principles like wherever he went.
One thing is the software never fail to do: replace teachers. Even the most motivated students need guidance and help. Important role is to help teachers and teachers of software interact. Teachers can upload their own instructional video, and access to peer recommendations, watching world-class lectures, and real-time feedback from the students. These advances for the United States means a great deal, and for those teaching effect of high school enrolment is not good for developing countries, these advances can teachers play a big role.
In order to make the most of these innovative functions, we need to eliminate inequalities between the sexes. African women are less likely to have mobile phones than men 24%; in South Asia, the figure was 37%. Melinda in the national examination to know personally, gap not only in technology. Last year, she and our daughter Jennifer (Jennifer) a farmer lived for some time in Tanzania. The family of 13-year old daughter grace (Grace) will be 10:30 before starting homework, before 10:30 because she was busy chopping firewood, fetching water, washing, cooking and washing the dishes. And her twin brother had a lot of time studying, had already passed the school exam, you can continue to go to school.
When Melinda and Jennifer left, grace asks: “could you please sent me your flashlight? “Because she wants to study when thugs in the night.
Education has a powerful force for equality. However, if the factors that hinder the access to education for girls was not addressed, we do not enjoy equal access to education opportunities, education will become another source of inequality, rather than addressing inequalities of medicine.
This is especially important because young educated women will have a powerful ripple effect. Her adulthood will earn more money. If she has children, her children survive more than five years would raise the possibility of 1 time. Her daughter can go to school and will increase the likelihood of 1 time. We can’t avoid the fact that we need to get more girls to enter good schools, studying for long periods. Online education for those who have conditions of use are also willing to use new opportunities for online education for girls.
With lower education costs and revenues on the rise, more people will have such a condition, we will be towards the goal of universal access to quality education.
Call global citizens
So how can we bet on to win? How to make future lives of 15 poor countries improve faster than any time in the past? As we have said before, this requires technological innovations, also need to adopt innovative means to bring technological innovation to the hands of those who need it most, which is why we are engaged in the Gates Foundation’s work.
There is also an important factor: knowledgeable, passionate people to join hands to change for effective action. Who are willing to help improve the lives of people living in the poorest areas of the world, and we call it “global citizen.” we should capitalise on this open letter, to start one called millions of “global citizenship”.
As “global citizens” does not mean that you have to dedicate your life to help the poor, but it does mean you have to pay attention to issues with global significance. You will occasionally take a few minutes to learn about the lives of people in worse situations than you. (In fact, if you read this letter, you would probably have to be a “global citizen”. ) You are willing to put Compassion into practice, and to raise public awareness, or do the volunteers who contribute their time or donate some money.
Abundant evidence shows that when when witnessing the suffering of the people, who cares about those who are suffering. Whenever the news devastating tsunamis or earthquakes, worldwide outpouring of aid is enough to prove a point. But the problem is, the tragedy of those who continue (such as fatal illness, poverty and other issues) are not able to attract news coverage. A lot of people don’t see tens of millions of people are suffering, they love cannot be stimulated.
We hope to change that. We want to use our own participation and initiating action to make more people aware of these problems. We want to give the “global citizenship” provides a way to help them voice, urged the Government, companies and nonprofit organizations as a primary task to solve the problem.
This initiative called “global citizens” (Global Citizen), you can GlobalCitizen.org have registered for. So you can receive the latest information on how to help others, and share your understanding of the situation, partners with the same world of communication. We hope that in the future this will become a portal, where you can find information on many organizations concerned with various global issues.
Register as a global citizen Citizen.org this year, “global citizens” could play a particularly important role. Will take place in September on a wide range of consensus on the objectives of the United Nations, decides within the next 15 years we should do something for the poor. It was issued by the United Nations following the 2000 “Millennium Development Goals” set a goal to eliminate poverty again after. The “Millennium Development Goals” is our one of the best ideas in the field of development. That setting goals that the world is focused on several key indicators, that is, how many people can have the basic conditions for them to live productive lives: having a healthy body, to get an education and take full advantage of the economic opportunities.
We hope that adopted this year to continue this effort as well. To this end, nearly 1000 organizations from 130 countries and international bodies gathered together, hand in hand initiating a project known as “/2015” (action/2015) campaign. But we need more voices–which can be through participation in the “global citizen” make their voices. “Global citizenship” will join other groups, requires members to monitor their own leader, pledged in September to guarantee them for the goal is responsible for, in particular those objectives related to women’s and children’s rights.
“Global citizens”, rather than their actions more effectively, we will make more progress in the world. We hope you will register to participate in supporting our actions, because we believe that human beings can work together to make the world a more equal. In fact, we are confident, willing to gamble.