Bill and Melinda Gates Dispel Three Poverty Myths in Annual Letter

Like last year and in previous years Bill and Melinda Gates released their 2014 Annual Letter today. Their theme: 3 Myths That Block Progress for the Poor. Last year’s letter was all about the critical need to measure how programs work and this year’s letter explains how the data shows foreign aid does in fact work and saves lives. This, of course, is great news for people around the world who are beneficiaries of foreign aid programs and whose lives are being saved every day through innovative approaches to global health and development.

What myths do Bill and Melinda Gates dispel in their Annual letter this year?

1. Poor countries are doomed to stay poor.

Dispelled:

Prediction from Bill Gates: “By 2035, there will be almost no poor countries left in the world.”

2. Foreign aid is a big waste.

Dispelled:

3. Saving lives leads to overpopulation.

Dispelled:

Through key facts, graphs, and data Bill and Melinda Gates show that foreign aid has played a critical role in making sure people and countries move out of poverty and that lives are increasingly saved in poor and middle income countries.