As the leader of the world’s largest development agency and the head of one of the world’s biggest philanthropies, never in our careers have we seen such a compelling, low-cost opportunity to make such a massive impact on a major global killer.
We can protect millions of kids from a global killer — without billions of dollars
The Washington Post just ran an opinion piece co-written by USAID administrator Samantha Power and Open Philanthropy CEO Alexander Berger.
(Open Philanthropy manages the Lead Exposure Action Fund.)
The piece announces that USAID, Open Philanthropy, and UNICEF are launching the Partnership for a Lead-Free Future: a global initiative with the goal of bringing together UN institutions, aid agencies, funders, and country governments to make progress on lead exposure.
Excerpts:
*****
In the face of so many intractable problems that dominate the headlines, it can sometimes feel futile to try to make a difference in 2024. But when it comes to lead, it shouldn’t. In Flint and Bangladesh and Malawi, it was parents and neighbors and friends whose activism helped direct national attention and funding to lead mitigation efforts and pushed governments and companies to act. Each of us can contribute to building a global movement to do the same around the world.