Gates Foundation announces ’largest-ever’ budget of $8.3bn to tackle poverty, disease

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced that it will spend $8.3 billion in 2023 to continue its work tackling poverty, disease, and inequity.

In his annual letter, Mark Suzman, the foundation’s CEO, said the board of trustees’ approval of the budget puts the foundation on track to reach an annual payout of $9 billion by 2026.

He said the budget also represents a 15 per cent increase over the 2022 forecasted payout which enables the foundation to give away more money than any other philanthropy.

Addressing questions about the scale of the foundation’s influence and access to global leaders, Suzman said the it tries to use its privilege to push relentlessly for world leaders to spend their funds to lift up vulnerable populations.

Citing examples from its works on climate adaptation for smallholder farmers, malaria, and US education, he detailed how the foundation advocates for solutions and brings diverse voices to decision-making tables.

“Our role is to ensure that decision-makers—be the school board members or cassava growers or health ministers—have the best possible options to choose from and the best possible data to inform their decisions,” the letter reads.

“And where there’s a solution that can improve livelihoods and save lives, we’ll advocate persistently for it.

“We won’t stop using our influence, along with our monetary commitments, to find solutions—as long as hundreds of thousands of children die of malaria just because of where they live, as long as students of colour and low-income students don’t have equitable educational opportunities, and as long as famine threatens entire populations.”

Suzman said while the foundation was optimistic about the potential for progress, it was also aware that the challenges the world faces would likely not be resolved in 2023.

“That means we’ll be looking for even more effective ways to accelerate innovation and spur action toward the global goals,” the letter reads.