Seattle Post Intelligencer, October 21, 2007
by Dick Blakney, Robert V. Taylor and Alice Woldt
Consumers around the world view the Puget Sound region as a dynamic center of global innovation. They know us through our computer software, commerical airplanes, and coffee, as well as many other products and services.
We are seen as a growing center of excellence for the delivery of global health care and disease prevention with the work of several non-governmental and education organizations and private-public partnerships. Most recently, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has helped launch the University of Washington's Department of Global Health and an institute to evaluate international health programs.
We have a unique critical mass of resources, organizations and individuals in our region that could come together in a focused, collaborative effort to support the MDGs. This would add humanitarian aid and development assistance to the repertoire of our significant global interests and exports. But more importantly, it would help move global poverty reduction to a much more visible level in the nation's list of priorities.
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