Bill and Melinda Gates Launch Living Proof Project

Bill and Melinda Gates have a message for you: U.S. investments in global health work! The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Living Proof Project, a multimedia initiative that seeks to educate the American public about the successes of U.S. foreign assistance for global health. While we at RESULTS and REF know the powerful impact of U.S. foreign assistance, especially for health, The Gates Foundation saw the discouraging void in global health aid reporting — global health initiatives generally only make the news when they fail to perform, and news reports rarely if ever offer commendation on improvements to health worldwide. “If every American could see what we see when we travel, especially in Africa,” Melinda Gates explained, “they would understand how amazing these investments have been . . . but when you pick up the newspaper, you hear just the opposite, you hear just the negative stories.”

The “Living Proof Project” is making strides to fill the global health reporting gap through video essays, slideshows, personal stories, and Bill and Melinda’s own speeches, all available and accessible to the public on the Gates Foundation website. They’ve also launched television ads in the D.C. area to reach policymakers. The Gateses hope that by highlighting recent successes in global health, they can inspire current and future generations of Americans to support global health endeavors and become involved in a new, forward-thinking global health conversation.

”The world is definitely getting better,” Melinda Gates said during a speech to policymakers, “but it’s not getting better fast enough, and it’s certainly not getting better for everyone.”

Visit the Living Proof Project website to watch videos, read photo essays, and get progress reports. Link these resources with the global health background on the RESULTS website to help you educate your community, the media, and policymakers!