Today, theworld faces a serious crisis. It is not just a financial or budgetary crisis— it is an ethical crisis. A crisis of trustbetween people, theirleaders andpublicinstitutions.

Large segments of the population are marginalized and deprived of their basic human rights. The global gap between rich and poor is the widest in 20 years. Economic prosperity has not trickled down. We are seeing what happens when strong economic growth is hijacked by regimes unwilling to meet the legitimate aspirations of their people for greater freedom, democracy and opportunity.

At the July 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington DC, I joined U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other prominent leaders, activists and scientists in calling for an AIDS-free generation. The optimism at the conference was palpable—this is what happens when there are tangible results for people.