World’s 15 largest philanthropic organizations urge World Bank, IMF to better prepare for pandemic

Specifically, the letter called for three things: strive to meet the ambitious World Health Organization (WHO) immunization goals of at least 40% of the population in low- and middle-income countries. ‘by the end of this year and 70% by September 2022; ensure that governments of high-income countries reallocate at least $ 100 billion in recycled special drawing rights for low- and middle-income countries by 2021; and commit to a $ 100 billion replenishment of the World Bank’s International Development Association fund to support the pandemic response and economic recovery in the world’s poorest countries.

Philanthropic organizations also met on Thursday to discuss tangible next steps to help achieve these goals, and they agreed to make additional resources, expertise, network and advocacy power available to bolster global recovery efforts. .

The current signatories are: the Aliko Dangote Foundation; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Chaudhary Foundation, Nepal; Foundation of the Children’s Investment Fund; Conrad N. Hilton Foundation; Ford Foundation; Saldarriaga Concha Foundation; MasterCard Foundation; Mo Ibrahim Foundation; Foundations of open society; OppGen Philanthropies; and the Rockefeller Foundation.

The petition pointed out that the richest countries have the vaccines to give their people a chance against covid-19, while the poorest do not.

Nations in the Global North are empowered to avoid economic calamity and social disruption through massive stimulus packages, while hundreds of millions of people in the Global South have been plunged into extreme poverty. This unfair division makes humanity much more vulnerable to the next stage of the pandemic or some other crisis, according to the petition.

“As a matter of urgency, governments with hundreds of thousands of doses in stock must immediately redistribute them to countries with low immunization rates before much of this supply expires. Beyond this immediate emergency, and to prepare for the next one, we also need to make critical investments to strengthen long-term drug manufacturing capacity in developing countries, ”the petition says.