The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's 2024 annual letter attributes the rise of extreme poverty and decrease in development assistance to the Covid 19 pandemic. Mark Suzman, the foundation's CEO and author of the letter, stressed the need for innovative solutions and partnerships to address complex global issues such as poverty and disease, with the help of philanthropists. Suzman told VOA's Linord Moudou that the foundation plans to increase its annual spending to $9 billion in 2026, up from its current $8.6 billion - its largest annual budget to date.