Don Cayo, Vancouver Sun Published: Monday, November 24, 2008
Related blog post.
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Though the AKDN had few peers when it pioneered the use of business tools to attain social goals, the approach is catching on. As has the ethical imperative for at least some of those who have done well to also do good.
The Aga Khan said he is delighted at the resurgence of massive private capital in development initiatives manifest by people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet or, on a smaller but still dramatic scale, Vancouver mining magnates Frank Giustra and Lukas Lundin, who have pledged $100 million each to the Clinton Foundation.
“I am very, very, very pleased that there is a sense of social ethics which is coming back in a part of the world which I thought had become so materialistic that they had lost the notion of ethics. That they had lost notions of the unity of humanity and the fact that they couldn’t leave people – millions and millions of people – at risk of ill health, of marginalization, lack of security. . . .
“At one time I thought things were really becoming just too materialistic. But Bill Gates and other people around him are starting to reverse that whole attitude.”
A benefit that is perhaps related to this is Western donors’ increasing adoption of another concept his agencies have long practised – businesslike oversight of development spending.
“For a long time, there was a notion that development work, development activity, should not be measured,” he said. “It was [seen as] unethical to measure something which was done with a charitable attitude.
“But measuring the impact doesn’t mean that it’s a commercial goal. It’s understanding the impact on the communities you want to help.
“If your programs of support are not doing what they should do, you need to know that. You need to be able to understand what’s gone wrong, and you need to be able to correct it.”
—complete at the source—Related blog post.
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Bridging the big divide
Times Colonist: Aga Khan: Canada has much to teach the world
Ismailimail 
This is a substantive discussion with His Highness Aga Khan and deserves a good few readings by everyone. Thanks Ismaili Mail for your vigilance in bringing this to our attention.
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