' Is To Listen To Partners '

Here’s what she asked:

 

Are you imposing your values on other cultures?

 

See Bill and Melinda’s responses below:

 

 

Bill: On one level, I think the answer is obviously no. The idea that children shouldn’t die of malaria or be malnourished is not just our value. It’s a human value. Parents in every culture want their children to survive and thrive.

 

Sometimes, though, the person asking this question is raising a deeper issue. It’s not so much a question about what we do, but how we do it. Do we really understand people’s needs? Are we working with people on the ground?

 

Melinda:  We’re acutely aware that some development programs in the past were led by people who assumed they knew better than the people they were trying to help.

 

We’ve learned over the years that listening and understanding people’s needs from their perspective is not only more respectful—it’s also more effective.

 

Our foundation is designed with this principle in mind.

 

When we say “we” work on a certain issue, we don’t mean that Bill or I or the foundation’s employees are installing sewage systems in rapidly growing cities, delivering treatments for river blindness, or training farmers to rotate their crops.

 

What we mean is that we fund organizations with years and sometimes decades of local experience that do those things. These organizations, our thousands of partners, keep us connected to the people we’re trying to help.

 

We have about 1,500 employees in offices on four continents who look at the data, survey the universe of possible approaches, study what’s worked and what hasn’t, and develop strategies that we believe will maximize our impact.

 

But one of the most important parts of their job is to listen to partners, adjust the strategies based on what they hear, and give implementers the leeway to use their expertise and their local knowledge.

 

That’s not to say we always get it right. We don’t. But we try to approach our work with humility about what we don’t know and the determination to learn from our mistakes.

 

On top of relying on local partners, we also have a strong conviction about the importance of empowerment. We aren’t interested in making choices for anyone.

 

We invest in family planning, for example, not because we have a vision of what other people’s families should look like but because parents around the world have told us they want the tools to make their vision of their own family come to fruition.

 

In all our work, we are interested in making sure people have the knowledge and power to make the best choices for themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uche Pedro