Philanthropies pledge billions during UN meeting
Philanthropies choose to announce big initiatives during the General Assembly to get more attention on their commitments and influence the public agenda, experts say. “This is the time where you have a global audience, otherwise the audience is more fragmented by countries,” said Paloma Raggo, a professor at Canada’s Carleton University who focuses on global philanthropy.
The General Assembly is also a key moment for foundations since they’ve played a prominent role in supporting the U.N.’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development, which contains 17 goals adopted at the 2015 gathering. Though, critics have long argued there should be more scrutiny on the role private actors play in shaping and responding to these agenda items since they don’t have to be accountable to the public.