It’s not every day someone is bold enough to give away one-third of their net worth to help make the world a better place. But when Ted Turner donated $1 billion 15 years ago to help the United Nations tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges, it inspired a new wave of philanthropy. New York Times’ columnist Nicholas D. Kristof writes in his latest column how Turner’s generous gift not only led to the creation […]
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PORT-AU-PRINCE — “Beyond the mountains, more mountains,” a well-worn Haitian proverb goes, in a nod to the outsized challenges this half-island in the Caribbean has faced for as long as anyone can remember. Topping that list is the 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people, displaced 1.5 million, and racked or razed some 300,000 buildings. The quake took its deadliest aim in Haiti’s hyper-urbanized capital, causing indescribable ruin and destroying roughly 80 percent of
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This Sunday, January 13, is the anniversary of India’s major polio milestone – marking two years without reporting a single case of polio – remarkable progress for a country which just four years ago contributed majorly to the global polio case count. To learn more about just how remarkable this milestone is, we called our partners at UNICEF to talk with Jeffrey Bates, a Polio C4D Officer (Communication for Development) and one of the many
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On January 12, 2010, a massive earthquake struck Haiti, killing more than 300,000 people and leaving more than one million homeless. With support from millions of individuals around the world, a host of institutions and organizations — the UN and the UN Foundation among them — reached out to help the Haitian government with the difficult process of recovering and rebuilding. That recovery process was the subject of a press teleconference held in advance of the earthquake’s
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Follow our live Twitter coverage of a special session on technology, social media, and mass-participation on Thursday, January 24 at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Recent developments in mobile and social technology—combined with the emergence of mass participatory models in business, media and politics— are rapidly changing citizen expectation about empowerment, democracy, choice and engagement— not just in the North, but globally. What do world leaders think about this emerging trend? And what should they know about how people power
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This morning, our global community joined in a conversation about people power and social good via Twitter at the World Economic Forum in Davos, quite literally changing the shape of the conversation. Here’s a quick rundown of some of our favorite posts. Before the session, we asked for examples of #peoplepower at work for #social good… During the panel, we heard from those at the session at Davos, and those following the conversation
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This year at the United Nations Foundation we have been focusing on the idea of “Going Bold”, inspired largely by our founder and chairman Ted Turner’s $1 billion gift to work toward the goals of the UN. We cannot have this conversation without including the work and impact that Bill Gates has made through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates, a leader in global development, released his annual letter and report yesterday to rally
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Two important speeches were given over the past two weeks. One captured the world’s attention at home and abroad, and the other enjoyed less fanfare, but wove together a picture of the world’s future. One was marking the beginning of a second U.S. presidential term and one was delivered by the world’s top diplomat. When President Obama outlined his hopes and priorities for the next four years last week, I was struck by two sections
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2013 Nobel Peace Prize nominee. Runner-up for Time “Person of the Year.” At 15 years old, Malala Yousafzai has already inspired the world — but she’s just getting started. “Today you can see that I’m alive. I can speak…. and I’m getting better day by day,” said Malala in her first interview since the shooting in October. Despite facing hurdles, the Yousafzais remain committed to their cause of education. “I want every girl, every child
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