Gates Package — page 555

the rich countries. Unless voters hear about the positive impact their generosity is having, they'll inevitably focus on issues closer to home. A single story, true or not, about a small amount of aid being misused can often cloud the entire field. Imagine how you would feel about investing if every article you read was only about stocks that did poorly and not about the big successes. Historically, aid was discussed largely in terms of the total amount of money invested. But now that we're more precisely measuring indicators like child mortality, people are able to see the impact aid has in stark terms--that it's the difference between putting people on HIV treatment or letting them die. When framed this way, aid has a better chance of becoming a priority for people. My second concern about the next 15 years is whether the world will align around a clear set of goals. The United Nations is starting to map out new goals for the years following the 2015 expiration of the current MDGs. As with the first round, the next set of goals could help align groups doing the work, remind voters what their generosity supports, and Meeting Florence Daka, a woman living with HIV, and her son, Stephen, during a visit to the Coptic Mission Hospital (Lusaka, Zambia, 2012). allow us to see where we are making progress in delivering solutions to the poor. 'The success of the MDGs means that there is a lot of interest in expanding them to include a broader set of issues. But many of the potential new goals don't have unanimous support, and adding many new goals, or goals that are not easily measurable, may sap momentum. The MDGs were coherent because they focused on helping the poorest people in the world. The groups that needed to work together on the MDGs were easy to identify, and they could be held accountable for cooperation and progress. When the UN reaches agreement on other important goals like mitigating climate change, it should consider whether a different set of actors and a separate process might be best for those efforts. T hope everyone who reads this is excited to see how much progress the world has made in helping the poorest in the last 15 years. It is the kind of good-news story that happens one life at a time and so it often doesn't get the same visibility as a big setback like the outbreak of a new epidemic. From time to time we should step back and celebrate the achievements that come with having the right goals--combined with political will, generous aid, and innovation in tools and their delivery. It has certainly deepened my commitment to this work. RM Yotiy Bill Gates Co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation January 2013 2013 Annual Letter from Bill Gates