Rio Olympics: 4 better ways to spend $11bn
ALTHOUGH Team GB’s medal haul is giving British sports fans plenty to be excited about, the Rio Olympics is costing Brazil a whopping $11.6bn to host and will have entertained the world for just 16 days.
Meanwhile, the money could be used to reduce hunger for a whole year, provide drinking water for nearly 400m people and eliminate malaria.
1. Provide safe water and sanitation
According to the World Health Organization, halving the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation would cost as little as $10 billion – just $1bn less than hosting the Rio Olympics.
To put that in perspective, $10bn of the $11.6bn spent on this year’s Olympics would provide 1.25bn people with access to improved sanitation facilities, and 374m people with access to safe drinking water.
2. Reduce world hunger by a third
Whilst ending world starvation altogether isn’t looking likely anytime soon, The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations claimed that it only costs $30bn to annually to end world hunger.
Although the funds procured to host the Rio Olympics would not completely satisfy that price tag, $11.6bn would go a long way in reducing food shortages and hunger.
Meanwhile, 60,000 traditional Brazilian meals are being prepared everyday for the athletes.
3. Eliminate malaria in 34 nations
The money used for hosting the Rio Olympics could be used to help massively reduce the amount of fatalities caused by malaria. According to a recent paper, it would cost only $8.5bn to end malaria in 34 nations including Thailand and China.
4. Finance UNICEF
World’s leading organisation for over 190 countries, UNICEF spends roughly $4,000m per year — just one third of the cost that Brazil has spent hosting the Olympics.
With this amount, UNICEF provide life-saving treatment to 2m children under the age of five, deliver clean water to 20m people, and supply 1.5m measles vaccines to children. Imagine what UNICEF could do if it had the budget of the Rio Olympics.
