“Once we realise that imperfect understanding is the human condition there is no shame in being wrong, only in failing to correct our mistakes.”
Living up to his word, billionaire George Soros has announced he will be injecting $500 million into startups and social initiatives designed to address the needs of migrants, refugees and host communities in Europe, and around the world.
The investment – which is made on top of the contributions his organisation, Open Society Foundation, has been making to human right causes since 1979 – comes as the United Nations’ Summit for Refugees and Migrants draws to a close, with the assembly calling for a better international response to the refugee crisis.
Indeed, governments have been slow to develop and enact policies to protect and support both refugees and the areas in which they are residing, and such calls have proved impotent in the past. For instance, only 8% of the $10 billion members of the UN pledged to Syria back in February has actually been delivered.
Back home, a balance is required, and not one that keeps the majority of migrants, at best, chained to government handouts for the foreseeable future.
“Migrants are often forced into lives of idle despair, while host countries fail to reap the proven benefit that greater integration could bring,” reflects Soros. He expects all investments to be successful, with profits returning to Open Society for redistribution into new programs. Particular focus is being placed on emerging digital technology that can provide efficient and innovative services like those enjoyed by non-migrants in the community.
In the end though, Soros says the impetus is on government to provide long-term support, with the private sector using its agility and flexibility to plug the gaps.
The 32nd richest person on Earth, Soros lived in Hungary during WWII, before relocating to the UK, and then settling in the US. It’s here that he founded Quantum Fund, one of the most successful hedge funds of all time. For all his work in social enterprise, Soros is still considered quite the villain back in Britain, after shorting the pound in 1992 and earning Quantum Fund a $1 billion payday.