The United Nations has agreed to Elon Musk’s conditions for his potential $6 billion donation to solve world hunger.
Musk’s offer to donate the money came after David Beasley, the director of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), shared a tweet to say it would take just 0.36% ‘of the top 400 US billionaires’ net worth increase last year’ to feed 42 million people facing famine in 43 countries.
The SpaceX founder responded to say he would sell Tesla stock to fund the donation as long as the United Nations agreed to ‘open source accounting, so the public sees precisely how the money is spent’.
Beasley initially responded to the offer to assure Musk that the UN has ‘systems in place for transparency and open source accounting’, and this week the WFP laid out a plan for the donation.
Sharing the proposal on Twitter, the director tagged Musk and wrote: ‘This hunger crisis is urgent, unprecedented, AND avoidable. @elonmusk, you asked for a clear plan & open books. Here it is! We’re ready to talk with you – and anyone else – who is serious about saving lives.’
Titled, ‘A one-time appeal to billionaires’, the proposal explains that billions of dollars donated by the world’s richest people could help stave off hunger, with $3.5 billion of the donation being used for food and its delivery, and $2 billion will be spent on cash and food vouchers, among other expenditures.
This hunger crisis is urgent, unprecedented, AND avoidable. @elonmusk, you asked for a clear plan & open books. Here it is! We’re ready to talk with you – and anyone else – who is serious about saving lives. The ask is $6.6B to avert famine in 2022: https://t.co/eJLmfcMVqE
— David Beasley (@WFPChief) November 15, 2021
A further $700 million will be dedicated to ‘country-specific costs to design, scale up and manage the implementation of efficient and effective programmes for millions of tons more food and cash transfers and vouchers – adapted to the in-country conditions and operational risks in 43 countries.’
Just five countries alone account for 20M people: https://t.co/75x8JOQtu3
They are the frontlines of hunger. What I’ve seen in each of these countries is worse than you can possibly imagine. #Afghanistan #Madagascar #SouthSudan #Sudan #Yemen pic.twitter.com/UIE9ohKyoO
— David Beasley (@WFPChief) November 15, 2021
The remaining $400 million will go towards ‘global and regional operations management, administration and accountability, including coordination of global supply lines and aviation routes; global logistics coordination such as freight contracting; global monitoring and analysis of hunger worldwide; and risk management and independent auditors dedicated to oversight’, the WFP explains.
The organisation has explained it is a ‘perfect storm of conflict, climate crises, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising costs for reaching people in need’ which is causing a ‘seismic hunger crisis’.
If WFP can describe on this Twitter thread exactly how $6B will solve world hunger, I will sell Tesla stock right now and do it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 31, 2021
Musk does not appear to have responded to the proposal.
I’d Fuck the Chinese COVID Robot if I were Elon Musk…