Sue Desmond-Hellmann: ‘I Don’t Think That Anybody Feels Good About The Global Response To Ebola’

Sue Desmond-Hellmann, chief executive officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, discussed the ongoing Ebola problem with HuffPost Live at Davos, saying the Gates Foundation has made a $75 million investment in fighting the virus.

But she said that’s a “small” investment, as the UN said there is a need for $1.5 billion to help eliminate the disease.

“I don’t think that anybody feels good about the global response to Ebola,” she said.

“We’re focused right now on getting Ebola to zero,” she added. “There continues to be people who are suffering and dying in West Africa.”

Desmond-Hellmann said solving global issues like Ebola isn’t just the responsibility of philanthropists or private companies.

“I think it’s a collaboration… it’s non-governmental organizations, it’s academia, it’s private industry,” she said.

Desmond-Hellmann said the Gates Foundation thinks of its funds “as leverage” for companies to get involved with helping global issues. She mentioned the 2015 Gates Annual Letter, which made a big prediction about handling global issues over the next 15 years.

“The big bet is that the next 15 years, until 2030, will be better years in terms of advancements for the poor that we’ve ever seen in history,” Desmond-Hellmann said.

Below, more updates from the 2015 Davos Annual Meeting:

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“This is one of the most important discoveries of transcendental meditation, proven by research — you gain time,” he said.

Goings said there needs to be a “mindset change” in order to make sure women are empowered and have equal representation.

“Taking out leaders doesn’t change this, because new leaders rise up,” Wallis said.

“If the war hawks got their way and got the troops to take out ISIS… they might be able to do that militarily, but in six moths it’ll rise up again,” Wallis said.

“Terrorism always arises out of grievances, and the terrorism to me is finally morally inexcusable no matter what the grievance, however grievances have to be dealt with if you don’t want to recruit more terrorists,” Wallis said.

“There are movements now at the bottom,” Wallis said, citing Ferguson and the Occupy protests.

“There’s a populist energy in the country because the systems have so failed, and everyone agrees with that, so something has to rise up from the bottom,” he said.

Wallis said he’s spoken with young business leaders who want to be “servant leaders” and have a purpose to their work.

Rev. Jim Wallis, president and founder of Sojourners, spoke to HuffPost Live about the activists in Ferguson, Missouri.

“Here, young people who were drifting six months ago, now leading a movement… they’re self-teaching about social movements, they’re amazing young people,” Wallis said.

Wallis said leaders in Ferguson take a two-step approach to leadership: establish trust and take risks.

Lally Weymouth, Senior Associate Editor at The Washington Post, talks about the newspaper’s first year under owner Jeff Bezos.

The Huffington Post