Let’s start with the good news — because there’s a lot of it.

Since 1990, the world has cut extreme poverty, child mortality and malaria deaths by half. We’ve nearly halved maternal mortality, and new HIV infections are down 40 percent. In countless ways, people around the world are living healthier, better lives than ever before.

There are many reasons for this progress. Technology has advanced. Economies have grown. But one of the most important factors is also incredibly simple: the world made progress because it decided to.