{"id":170,"date":"2012-03-03T13:05:34","date_gmt":"2012-03-03T13:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.up.edu.pe\/blogs\/csanborn\/Lists\/EntradasDeBlog\/ViewPost.aspx?ID=20"},"modified":"2022-10-13T06:04:21","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T06:04:21","slug":"bill-gates-and-philanthropy-in-peru","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.up.edu.pe\/csanborn\/bill-gates-and-philanthropy-in-peru\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Gates and Philanthropy in Peru"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u200b\"Colegio<\/p>\n

A comment made by billionaire\u00a0Bill Gates in Spain<\/a>\u00a0last week has set off a lively debate in Peru\u00a0about\u00a0whether\u00a0this country still needs foreign assistance. \u00a0Gates argued that Peru is a middle income country\u00a0with the resources to address its own basic needs, and that European states should focus on the\u00a0poorest nations of the world. \u00a0His words follow those of\u00a0Peru\u00b4s own President,\u00a0Ollanta Humala,<\/a>\u00a0while\u00a0visiting Spain in January\u00a0to encourage\u00a0private investment<\/a>\u00a0as the best way to\u00a0promote social development.<\/p>\n

Yet\u00a0Cabinet ministers<\/a>,\u00a0politicians<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0pundits<\/a>\u00a0here\u00a0argued that Gates was misinformed,\u00a0that poverty and\u00a0inequalities persist\u00a0in this country, and that Peru still needs international aid.<\/p>\n

Personally, I agree that Peru does not need basic humanitarian assistance from foreign governments.<\/p>\n

As my colleagues\u00a0Beltran y Seinfeld.pdf<\/a>\u00a0recently wrote, we know how much it costs to eradicate chronic infant malnutrition and we have the tax revenue to pay for it. \u00a0The same holds for malaria, early childhood education, clean water and sewage in poor communities. \u00a0It is\u00a0absurd for someone\u00a0like former First Lady\u00a0Eliane Karp<\/a>\u00a0to complain that Gates refused her a grant to\u00a0vaccinate 2,000 Amazonian\u00a0natives, when she ran the government agency for indigenous affairs and\u00a0had more than enough clout to get\u00a0that done. \u00a0What is needed for addressing these issues is political\u00a0will and managerial skill, not outside money.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, one issue that is missing from the local debate — \u00a0but central to Gates\u00b4 speeches and\u00a0actions — is the role of private philanthropy, in addressing problems that governments cannot or will\u00a0not tackle. \u00a0 As John Coatsworth observes in the Introduction to a volume I co-edited on the topic,\u00a0Philanthropy and Social Change in Latin America<\/a>, private giving can play a strategic role in promoting\u00a0social change, far beyond the actual amount of money it moves. \u00a0Private donors can support\u00a0innovative research on frontier issues, sponsor experimental reforms, disseminate best practices, and\u00a0promote needed policy change. \u00a0 They can also support social movements and \u00a0leaders who challenge\u00a0the status quo. \u00a0 Through my own experiences as a foundation program officer, consultant and\u00a0researcher, I have seen plenty of examples, some of which are summarized in a special edition of the\u00a0Harvard ReVista on\u00a0Giving and Volunteering in the Americas<\/a>, and the abovementioned volume.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So, where are the Bill (and Melinda) Gates of Peru today? \u00a0Where are the leaders who put their own\u00a0money, time and talent into changing \u2013 rather than preserving \u2013 this unequal and unjust society?<\/p>\n

Between 1995 and 2005, Felipe Portocarrero and I addressed this question through a series of studies\u00a0on philanthropy and nonprofit organizations in Peru<\/a>\u00a0and in comparative Latin American context. \u00a0With a\u00a0team of outstanding young researchers (including Hanny Cueva, Renzo Massari, Armando Mill\u00e1n,\u00a0James Loveday, Enrique Mendiz\u00e1bal and Oswaldo Molina), we undertook the first mapping and\u00a0analysis of Peruvian\u00a0foundations<\/a>, the first quantitative study on the\u00a0nonprofit sector<\/a>, national surveys\u00a0on giving and volunteering, and case studies of companies, foundations, NGO and community\u00a0organizations. \u00a0We also examined the legal and tax frameworks for nonprofits, and the role of foreign\u00a0aid in that sector.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What did we learn? \u00a0Since the early 1990s there has been a significant increase in nonprofit\u00a0organization, and in diverse forms of private giving and volunteering. \u00a0Nearly 80% of the largest\u00a0corporations operating in Peru claimed to undertake some kind of philanthropic activity, while over a\u00a0third of adults in urban areas did volunteer work and nearly 35% made financial contributions to a\u00a0variety of social, cultural and religious organizations. \u00a0Over 110,000 legally-registered nonprofits were\u00a0identified in 1995-2000, working in such areas as education, health and community-based services,\u00a0including 76,334 food assistance organizations run by low income women and serving an estimated\u00a049,5% of Peruvian households.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At the same time, we found that overall levels of elite and corporate giving were low in relation to\u00a0profits through the 1990s and up to 2005. \u00a0Private donor activity was also sporadic and unpredictable,\u00a0with few efforts to evaluate impact, and most still went to traditional charity, or to activities benefitting\u00a0upper and middle class groups themselves, such as private higher education and fine arts. \u00a0While\u00a0there were 127 private foundations registered in 2000, roughly 80% of their patrimony was\u00a0concentrated in just seven organizations. \u00a0Meanwhile, 68% of all nonprofit income was self-generated,\u00a0through fees and charges for services, membership dues and voluntary labor. \u00a0Another 22% came\u00a0from international donors, aimed primarily at a small subset of professional NGOs (1,659), 5% came\u00a0from the government, and just 5% from domestic elite giving.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Since we published these studies, Peru has undergone accelerated economic growth, led by record\u00a0mineral prices and expanded private investment. \u00a0The rich have gotten richer, new fortunes have been\u00a0created, and the educated middle classes have also seen their incomes rise. \u00a0In this context, one\u00a0might expect an explosion of private giving and volunteering. \u00a0As Gates puts it in his\u00a0motivational tours<\/a>,\u00a0\u201cAfter a few million or something, it\u00b4s all about how you\u00b4re going to give it back\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yet the evidence is mixed. \u00a0A\u00a0recent study by INEI<\/a>\u00a0in collaboration with our university,\u00a0suggests that total\u00a0nonprofit activity has indeed\u00a0increased in the last decade, to over 180,000 legally registered organizations\u00a0(and many more under\u00a0the wire). \u00a0 Peruvians organize in record numbers to educate themselves and their\u00a0children, share cultural and sports affinities, confirm their faith and defend their rights. \u00a0While poverty\u00a0has decreased\u00a0significantly in the last decade, the number of soup kitchens and Glass of Milk committees\u00a0appears to\u00a0have increased. \u00a0 Yet the total number of NGOs run by skilled professionals seems\u00a0roughly the\u00a0same (at 1,619). \u00a0 And while the number of registered foundations has more than doubled\u00a0(to 312), we do\u00a0not have data on their total patrimony. \u00a0Evidence suggests that corporate giving has\u00a0increased dramatically,\u00a0especially by transnational mining firms investing in their areas of operation,\u00a0while the tendency of Peruvian\u00a0elites to give away relatively little of their own personal wealth, may not\u00a0have changed much.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why don\u00b4t the Peruvian wealthy give more, and more strategically? \u00a0 This is a tough question to\u00a0answer, one that involves historical distrust among different classes and ethnic groups, a weak sense\u00a0of national identity, and the recent history of extreme political violence. \u00a0 But it also involves lack of\u00a0leadership and fundraising skills among would-be donors and beneficiaries alike. \u00a0Many nonprofits in\u00a0Peru don\u00b4t even try to raise money locally, or recruit and maintain skilled volunteers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Business leaders tend to complain about the lack of tax and legal incentives, but in the Peruvian case\u00a0that is not very convincing. \u00a0Tax incentives are rarely if ever the primary motivation for giving, although\u00a0they may influence the amount and frequency of donations. \u00a0But the wealthy in Peru don\u00b4t use the tax\u00a0incentives that are already in place, which require registering with the SUNAT tax authority and\u00a0opening their books and bank accounts to public scrutiny. \u00a0 While the rich find that cumbersome, tax\u00a0incentives without transparency is a recipe for corruption.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So, are foreign donors unnecessary in Peru? \u00a0Of course not. \u00a0There are many important issues and\u00a0organizations that do not generate the same domestic consensus as basic health care or infant\u00a0nutrition, and that neither governments nor wealthy elites are willing to support. \u00a0A free and critical\u00a0press, equality for women and for people of African and indigenous descent, protection of vulnerable\u00a0natural resources, and defense of religious pluralism, are among the many issues that would not be on\u00a0the agenda in countries like Peru if their advocates did not have powerful international allies. \u00a0The\u00a0same holds for watchdog activities on the State itself. \u00a0 The Extractive Industries Transparency\u00a0Initiative (EITI<\/a>)\u00a0and Revenue Watch International (supported by\u00a0Gates himself<\/a>) are examples,\u00a0helping Peruvians and others\u00a0keep an eye on how their governments use natural resource rents.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Peruvian universities also benefit greatly from external support. \u00a0International grants and fellowships\u00a0help keep our faculty competitive, and support cutting edge research in such fields as tropical\u00a0medicine, archeology and environmental studies. \u00a0 I venture to add that the social sciences would not\u00a0exist in Peru if it were not for international donors and partners, as few governments or private\u00a0capitalists have considered them important.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When visiting campuses in the U.S., Bill Gates encourages students to focus their talents on\u00a0innovative ways to solve fundamental problems facing society, instead of concentrating on the needs\u00a0of the rich. \u00a0How many students at Peru\u00b4s leading universities opt to \u201cgive back\u201d to society, through\u00a0their thesis research, or after graduation? \u00a0 Fortunately, we see more of them every day, including\u00a0volunteers with\u00a0Teach for Peru<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Un Techo para mi Pa\u00eds\u200b<\/a>, business majors with social enterprise\u00a0projects, and activists who defend intellectual freedom and challenge the status quo within their own\u00a0institutions. \u00a0Ultimately, they are\u00a0the best evidence that those with more education and income\u00a0in this\u00a0country,\u00a0can indeed shift from complacency to solidarity,\u00a0and support positive social change.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u200b A comment made by billionaire\u00a0Bill Gates in Spain\u00a0last week has set off a lively debate in Peru\u00a0about\u00a0whether\u00a0this country still needs foreign assistance. \u00a0Gates argued that Peru is a middle income country\u00a0with the resources to address its own basic needs, and that European states should focus on the\u00a0poorest nations of the world. \u00a0His words follow
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