COVID-19 has bifurcated the world like almost nothing else.
The wealthiest countries have more than enough vaccine doses with which to protect their people from the ravages of the virus, while the poorest countries do not. Those in the Global North also have the means to stave off economic calamity and social disruption through massive stimulus packages, while hundreds of millions in the Global South have been driven into extreme poverty. This inequitable divide leaves humanity far more vulnerable to the next stage of the pandemic, as well as to any other systemic crisis that may emerge.
As leaders of some of the world’s largest philanthropies, there are two things we know for sure. First, history has taught us that transformational change almost always has been triggered by some deep crisis. Second, only by coming together can the world muster the bold, urgent action needed to reverse the great divergence between the haves and have-nots that we see today. Only through cooperation and coordination can we launch a transformative era of progress.