www.theglobalfund.org/en/news/2025... Ridiculous headline - the 1 billion is mostly coming from the Gates Foundation. High time to let the private sector 'contribute' in another way. #globaltaxjustice
Oooooooh! This one’s going to be super interesting!
Check out the latest from @kstoreng.bsky.social - "The business of pandemic intelligence". A much needed dive into the emergence of a commercial market for pandemic intelligence and its consequences for the WHO and health equity.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
One of the best reads I had in a while. Really insightful paper based on fantastic work to obtain covid vaccine contracts in South Africa. Highly recommended!
@jacktaggart.bsky.social and I have been working together on multistakeholderism, and thinking about how these hybrid forms of governance connect to multilateralism
This is an attempt to think through institutional hybridity in global plastics governance
www.globalpolicyjournal.com/articles/glo...
The UK pledged £1.25 billion to Gavi to save children, but the Minister of International development also reminds us that Gavi's partnership with UK pharma "supports economic growth and job creation, putting money in the pockets of British people."
questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-stat...
To contextualize this pledge, this means Norway cuts its contribution to Gavi by 50%, and keeps its funding to The Global Fund stable (does not follow inflation).
Check out Development Today’s piece for in-depth coverage: www.development-today.com/archive/2025...
3️⃣ The governance of public-private partnerships (PPPs).
👉 I propose a new categorization of PPPs called “quasi-public partnerships”, administered by a host organization and embedded within its bureaucracy -- unlike large and independent global health partnerships like Gavi or The Global Fund.
2️⃣ How a humanitarian partnership brings together governmental agencies, militaries, commercial companies and NGOs.
👉 The short version: “It’s complicated” 🤷♂️
1️⃣ The role of the World Health Organization (WHO) in health emergency response.
👉 I explore how the WHO asserted its authority in humanitarian response and develops some form of operational capacity through the creation of the Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) initiative.
New publication! 🎉
“Quasi-public Partnerships: Multistakeholder Governance in an International Organization” in Global Governance
🔓 brill.com/view/journal...
The paper will be of interest to those interested in:
PR spin suggestion: after his co-chairs Melinda Gates & Warren Buffet left the foundation, chairman Bill Gates decides to keep full control on how his money will be spent, and doubles down on his key priorities without consideration for recipient countries’ priorities.
Bill Gates is so rich that he‘ll still be a billionaire after giving away 99% of his fortune 💰
In a new paper in Globalization & Health, @adebengyp.bsky.social @simonrushton.bsky.social and I analyze how the Gates Foundation strategically works to align European donors with its global health and development priorities. Our key findings in this thread 🧵
New article out in Globalization & Health with @adebengyp.bsky.social and @kstoreng.bsky.social looking at the Gates Foundation’s efforts to influence European donor governments. Open access here: globalizationandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
Our study is just a first step – more research is needed to investigate how the Foundation interacts with other donors (e.g. Gulf States, Singapore); better understand partners’ perspectives through in-depth research; how other private foundations seek to influence policy; etc.
d) If everyone becomes a partner of the Foundation, who remains to hold the Gates Foundation accountable?
c) How can we ensure that policy alternatives may also emerge – including some that might challenge the “Gates approach” to global health and development – if everyone is aligned with the Gates Foundation?
b) Is it appropriate for a foreign private actor to develop close diplomatic ties with governments, while in parallel, working with and funding other stakeholders to influence policy? Do we have regulations in place to ensure that these interactions are transparent and accountable? 🔍⚖️
a) The Gates Foundation’s network diplomacy gives it influence over public policy. Its links with and funding to a wide range of actors in the global health ecosystem represents a remarkable concentration of power in the hands of a private actor.
The concept of network diplomacy helps to make sense of the Gates Foundation’s direct and indirect engagement with European donor countries by highlighting its capacity to leverage its networks to advance its own policy objectives.
🙋❓Why does it matter?
5. The Gates Foundation has some favorite European advocacy partners. Save the Children (UK), DSW (Germany) and Focus 2030 (France) get larger, longer and more frequent advocacy and policy grants than other NGOs.
4. The Gates Foundation funds actors across the entire global health and development ecosystem. Between 2007 and 2024, it awarded $400 million in policy and advocacy grants to a wide range of NGOs, think tanks, research institutes, universities and media organizations in the UK, Germany and France.
3. Foundation staff also frequently interact with bureaucrats, and Memoranda of Understanding formalize cooperation by highlighting key areas of common interest.
2. The Foundation has developed close ties with European political leaders, including through many high-level meetings in the UK, Germany and France and with the European Commission (up to 10 annually). Bill Gates has met with every French president during the past 25 years.
1. The Gates Foundation has set up an international bureaucracy to manage its relations with governments and multilateral organizations, including regional offices in London and Berlin. These resemble embassies and report to a “global policy and advocacy division” in the Seattle HQ.
We analyze how the Gates Foundation strategically works to align European donor countries with its global health and development priorities. Our key findings in this thread 🧵
🚨 New paper 📑 “The Gates Foundation’s network diplomacy in European donor countries”, co-written with @kstoreng.bsky.social & @simonrushton.bsky.social
👉 globalizationandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
Happy to share my latest article in @biosocieties.bsky.social!
💊 🌏 It analyses science-policy responses to drug resistance and antibiotic pollution from pharma industries in India, showing how various uncertainties arise due to "molecularised" understandings of the environment.
rdcu.be/ehiU9
Interested in understanding the impact of mega-foundations and other private actors in global health governance? Apply by April 23 to join the Global Health Politics group @uio.no
PhD: www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
Postdoc: www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
www.sum.uio.no/english/rese...
