NEW YORK — A passing comment in a hotel hallway at one of the many conferences on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly’s annual high-level meetings this past week may have turned into a solution.
A global antipoverty nonprofit executive, recently returned from Zambia, mentioned that a hospital there had just one incubator, warmer and resuscitator for the fifty-some babies born daily.
The conversation could’ve ended there with an empathetic response. But in this case, leaders of a corporate-nonprofit alliance providing medical equipment to those in need heard the story. And in this case, Children International President Susana Eshleman said help may come by year’s end.
“It’s very encouraging and inspiring to be here,” she said. “It feels like a shot in the arm sometimes when the work that we’re doing is hard and the global situation, given all the recent developments, is particularly hard.”
In a year marked by significant foreign aid pullbacks from the U.S. and other wealthy countries, the exchange provides a glimpse into the unique connective tissue that still draws foundations, nonprofits, corporations and international actors to what attendees call UNGA week.
The meetings at Manhattan ballrooms and intimate townhouse dinners solidify relationships and hasten coordination, made even more impactful by the sheer number of parties. This year, attendees described more pragmatic, focused and galvanizing discussions than before, placing a greater emphasis on the roles companies and philanthropies must play in shaping an uncertain future.
Conversations, in private and on stages, would generally open with the impact of aid cuts on a particular organization, but quickly move to the group’s pivots and current needs. Former President Bill Clinton began the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting with a list of the world’s issues currently worrying him. But he ended it with the message: “Be caught trying.”
Philanthropists’ interest in engaging with the private sector was evident in some of the heaviest hitters’ announcements.
At his global forum on Wednesday in The Plaza Hotel, billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg unveiled a new partnership with the African Development Bank Group to bring more investment to the continent.
“There’s certainly no shortage of challenges to discuss over there,” said Bloomberg, referencing the U.N. headquarters. “But the truth is, in a world that’s more interconnected and fast-moving than ever, the biggest problems can’t be solved by national governments alone.”
At the Clinton Global Initiative, which retooled this year’s meeting to focus on working groups, ballrooms across the New York Hilton Midtown were packed with hundreds of front line workers, policy experts, foundation donors and NGO representatives divided into groups of 10 to discuss specific problems and potential solutions.
The working groups yielded numerous new initiatives, ranging from a social enterprise fund from Kiva Microfunds alongside corporate foundations to a new Global Network for National Service.
At Rockefeller Foundation headquarters, former heads of state, major foundations’ leaders and global health experts gathered around a table Monday to reimagine international development systems weakened by foreign aid cuts.
The Rockefeller Foundation committed $50 million to the effort. Rajiv Shah, the foundation’s president, said that includes upgrading a critical famine early warning system, created by the U.S. Agency for International Development, and diversifying its financing so no one political party can take it away.
The Clinton Health Access Initiative announced its partnership with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Unitaid, and Wits RHI to provide Gilead Sciences’ HIV prevention drug lenacapavir in 120 low- and middle-income countries. The Gates Foundation announced a similar deal with Indian pharmaceutical manufacturer Hetero Labs.
Bill Gates also announced the foundation would pledge $912 million to the Global Fund’s replenishment campaign to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
But, for all the talk of non-governmental funders’ importance, philanthropic leaders emphasized they cannot do it alone. Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman said he hopes their commitment to the Global Fund spurs the U.S. and other countries to step up.
“There is no possible way any philanthropy, any combination of philanthropies, can fill the gap,” Suzman said Wednesday.
International Rescue Committee CEO David Miliband, who reported losing $600 million in U.S. grants, said aid is being spread too thin. He called on his sector to more effectively deliver assistance with new technologies and find alternative financing streams.
“We’ve got to embrace innovation. And we’ve got to persuade newly wealthy countries — like those in the Gulf would be one example — that there’s a real potential to have lifelong impact on the people we’re helping,” Miliband said. “And we also have to appeal to philanthropy in the countries where we’re working.”
Whether they work in health, climate, migration or any other issue facing funding setbacks, nonprofit leaders reported a different feel to this year’s programming.
Conversations carried a heightened urgency and like-minded groups were forced to better coordinate their goals. Some advocates trod lightly between rallying their cause and avoiding any missteps that might suggest opposition to U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. Concerns about obtaining visas prompted some to travel with fewer staff than usual.
There was real worry that “we wouldn’t have UNGA,” according to USA for UNHCR Executive Director Suzanne Ehlers.
Her nonprofit had already begun developing a $15 million campaign to fund refugee women’s scholarships. But with everything “thrown up in the air,” she said, many questioned the point of coming.
“And here we are,” said Ehlers, who announced the campaign this week. “It’s actually more consequential than ever, I would say.”
The challenge is identifying who has financial resources in this new aid landscape, said Charity Wallace, a past adviser to former first lady Laura Bush. Her consulting firm, Wallace Global Impact, focuses on cross-sector solutions to world problems.
“Frankly, some people bemoan, as if it was still February and we wish that USAID still existed,” said Wallace, adding that many now see “they have to step up in a different way” in this different reality.
Matt Freeman, executive director of Stronger Foundations for Nutrition, said previous UNGA weeks have been filled with concurrent events where advocates fight for the same limited audience. He sensed a stronger spirit of collective action this year.
“That’s been really heartwarming,” he said. “Because you could imagine in a moment of scarcity that everyone’s elbows become sharper and they’re fighting for the pie.”
Kitty van der Heijden, the deputy executive director of partnerships at the United Nations Children’s Fund, said her week on the sidelines had been a mix of disappointment and excitement. She said UNICEF, which faces at least a 20% cut in revenue next year, will cut staff and look for other ways to save money.
On one hand, she said there was both “withdrawal from governments” and “depression” the state of the multilateral system. On the other hand, she said she saw many philanthropic and private sector actors “really trying to lead now in difficult times.”
“I have no time for depression,” she added. “I only have time to build more partnerships, to be out there, to deliver, because I know that we can. And we cannot do it alone.”
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Associated Press writers Thalia Beaty and Glenn Gamboa contributed to this report.
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