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Millennium Foundation and the Voluntary Solidarity Contribution (2009-08-02 00:00:00)

A small click can make a massive difference

Why the Millennium Foundation for Innovative Finance for Health?
 

The target date to reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 is rapidly approaching. Every day, every small action we can take to reaching them, counts. Today, nobody denies the necessity of a serious increase in resources to achieve what can be considered as the first ever international commitment towards improving conditions for the poorest of the world.
Created out of the need to fill the financial gap between current Official Development Aid (ODA) and the commitment to reaching the MDGs, the Millennium Foundation for Innovative Finance for Health is on the forefront of developing and implementing new financing tools in order to raise additional and sustainable funding, and optimising the impact on development aid.

Why the Voluntary Solidarity Contribution?

Today, an international flight can be booked online in about 5 minutes, while in less developed countries, it can take a full day walking to reach the closest healthcare service -- which are often unaffordable for the majority of the population, or have inadequate resources. The Voluntary Solidarity Contribution is designed to shift our guilt-driven mentality with respect to aid, to a positive message: ordinary citizens will soon be able to contribute a micro-donation to improving health in developing countries. It’s as easy as booking a ticket online.
The key to creating and sustaining these new mechanisms relies on the momentum of a global solidarity movement. The Voluntary Solidarity Contribution fits into our lifestyles today, as it provides a simple, quick and efficient way to help.
The initiative includes private actors from individual citizens to major corporations in the travel industry. Our main stakeholders are the Global Distribution Systems (GDS) companies, especially Amadeus, our technological partner who provided the solution for the Voluntary Solidarity Contribution. Amadeus’ support has led to commitments from Travelport/Galileo and Sabre to implement the solution. All three GDS partners have now integrated the donation engine into their Front Office. Close partnerships with the GDS companies will enable the Millennium Foundation to build an alliance around the project across the whole travel industry, especially for travel agents, airlines and hotel chains. Without the support of our technical and corporate partners, no movement would be possible.
Since the movement is based on new technology, online networks will be a key element of mobilising people, motivating them to contribute and to participate in the movement in a number of ways that will be based on online tools. Special attention will be paid to civil society actors, so that the needs of these communities are taken into consideration in the objectives of the contribution.