Page 47 - DIVA 2 2025 web

international

and experience to ensure our interventions are
both relevant and sustainable.

When selecting projects, we use a results
framework—we de ne clear objectives and ask
ourselves:
- what is the end impact we want?
- how does this project directly contribute to that
outcome?

But it’s not just about outcomes. It’s also about
equity. We aim to raise the bar for everyone—not
just the privileged few. So whether a child comes
from a rural village or an urban center, the child
should have access to quality opportunities.
Education has to be the great equalizer.

Unfortunately, in many countries, education
o en takes a backseat to more immediate needs—
health, infrastructure, or climate disasters.
But history shows that without a sustained
investment in human capital, no country has
ever truly broken out of the “middle-income
trap”.
duplicate e orts. at’s why we run what we call
Last month, I wrote an article for the World a “low footprint model”.
Economic Forum comparing South Korea and
Singapore. Both started as low-income nations And it’s also why we can commit that 100% of the
and became high-income within a generation— funding goes directly to the projects—because
but took di erent routes. we keep our core infrastructure light, and lean on
• South Korea bet on heavy industries like existing expertise wherever possible. at’s how
automobiles and chemicals, building up local we choose projects: strategically, collaboratively,
skills in manufacturing. and always with the end bene ciary in mind.
• Singapore focused on services and foreign
investment, emphasizing education, nance, Talking to Mr. Karthik has been an eye-opening
and technology. experience. It’s made us realize how rarely we
think about education in this way—strategically,
Despite the di erences, the common factor was future-focused, and deeply human. We can only
a strategic, long-term commitment to human hope there are more people like him out there:
capital development. at’s the kind of lesson we individuals who care about the next generations
want to bring into today’s developing countries. and are actively working to give them a real
chance at a better life.
We also look at bilateral relationships. For
instance, if Switzerland has a strong partnership We’ll de nitely be following this organization
with Vietnam, we might explore how they can closely and learning more. Hopefully, it will
provide not just nancial aid, but also technical inspire us to take steps toward making a positive
expertise and institutional knowledge. ere impact ourselves.
are many ways to build these coalitions.

At the end of the day, our model is about
partnership and leverage. We don’t want to
build everything ourselves. If a local institution
or country is already doing something well,
we bring them into the fold. We ll gaps, not

w w w. d i va i n t e r n at i o n a l . c h