mark suzman

Global food crisis: when food isn't merely expensive

Global food crisis: when food isn't merely expensive

Shortages as a result of Russia's war in Ukraine have aggravated a pre-existing global food crisis that could push a billion people — most of them in the poorest parts of the world — into starvation. It's not just one thing: droughts, COVID-induced supply chain snarls, and high energy prices have all gotten us to this point. And it’ll get worse later on if we don’t find ways to future-proof global food systems. So, what are we gonna do about it? Several experts weighed in during the livestream discussion "Hunger Pains: The growing global food crisis," hosted by GZERO Media in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Mark Suzman’s big lesson learned from COVID

Mark Suzman’s big lesson learned from COVID

When now-CEO Mark Suzman joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2007, global health efforts were focused on the transition to fighting diseases like HIV, malaria, or TB under initiatives such as The Global Fund or PEPFAR.Fifteen years later, the main lesson he's learned from COVID is is that "we have and did in the end respond albeit late," Suzman said during a livestream discussion on equitable vaccine distribution hosted by GZERO Media in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.What we've seen in the response, he explained, is "to some degree back in the glass half-full, half-empty response" with delays and setbacks caused by nationalism and inequitable vaccine distribution that caused many needless deaths. "

Can the world learn lessons from vaccine inequity?

Can the world learn lessons from vaccine inequity?

GZERO Media and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation convened leading experts in public health, research, development, and philanthropy on Thursday to discuss the uneven state of global recovery from health and economic perspectives.

Missed Shot: Whatever happened to equitable distribution? Wednesday, March 2, 2022 | 11:00 am ET / 8:00 am PT

Whatever happened to equitable distribution? Live townhall today at 11 am ET

Today at 11 am ET, GZERO Media and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will convene leading experts in public health, research, development, and philanthropy to discuss the uneven state of recovery from health and economic perspectives.As the world marks the two-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, most regions are still in the throes of outbreaks, and global vaccination rates are inconsistent – high in high-income countries, low in low-income countries.

Silver lining from COVID? Women around the world got access to digital payments

Silver lining from COVID? Women around the world got access to digital payments

There are few silver linings from the pandemic, but for Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman, one of them is "a massive expansion of social payments to women across the world." Women traditionally excluded from such systems in countries like Kenya or Pakistan, he says, finally got online — with immense potential to set up businesses for instance in agriculture. These are the "green shoots that we need to collectively build on" so after COVID we get a "faster, more effective, and more equitable recovery for the entire world."

Watch our expert panel on reasons for hope in the COVID crisis

Watch our expert panel on reasons for hope in the COVID crisis

Watch the recording of GZERO Media virtual Town Hall, "Reasons for Hope: COVID and the Coming Year," presented in partnership with Eurasia Group and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Our panel discussed the road ahead in the global response to the COVID crisis. Will there be more multilateral cooperation on issues like gender equality moving forward from the pandemic? Watch the event here: https://www.gzeromedia.com/townhall