![Panama City's Boca La Caja and Punta Pacifica neighbourhood on April 28, 2014. Photo credit: © Rodrigo Arangua/AFP/Getty Panama City's skyline behind multiple makeshift homes.](https://opensocietyfoundations.imgix.net/uploads/83b4617b-e4c8-42f6-8e57-265f5affac72/1-2019-arangua-panama-inequality-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C2000&w=760)
Our vision of equity seeks to combat economic inequalities that run deep in society and in the world. This includes entrenched economic inequalities that are deeply rooted in colonial exploitation, which in turn threaten our shared ability to respond to the local, national, and global challenges we all face.
![A vendor measures wheat flour at a market in Ibafo, Nigeria, on March 14, 2022. © Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Person measuring flour from a bag in an outdoor market](https://opensocietyfoundations.imgix.net/uploads/4497dd2e-fcde-43cb-9149-d1f13b147907/20230307-utomi-nigeria-vendor-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C2000&w=760)
The twin shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia have disrupted the lives of millions around the world and pushed fragile economies into economic crisis. Open Society has been supporting advocates pushing for new financial assistance from the richest countries, and for steps to mitigate the impact of this crisis on the livelihoods of the most vulnerable—while ensuring that governments can continue to fund their commitments to combat and mitigate the climate crisis.
![Chris Smalls, president and founder of the Amazon Labor Union leads a protest in NYC on November 30, 2022. © Mark Peterson/Redux Man with megaphone speaks to a crowd](https://opensocietyfoundations.imgix.net/uploads/bcc7ab7c-1cc7-49ee-8a5c-761c172bb5c4/20230308-peterson-nyc-labor-union.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C7008%2C4672&w=760)
We support efforts to ensure that private corporations take responsibility for the well-being of their workers, for their communities, and for the environment, while also backing initiatives to strengthen the rights and voice of marginalized workers.
![Ghada, a refugee from Syria who takes on many leadership roles in her community, works with a young student in Bekaa, Lebanon, on August 20, 2020. © Ali Khedr for the Institute of International Education A woman speaks to a girl at a desk](https://opensocietyfoundations.imgix.net/uploads/807f5246-6f5a-4824-b6df-652a165a4538/20230308-khedr-lebanon-ghada-3054-2-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C2000&w=760)
Against the backdrop of rising global inequality, a majority of the world’s refugees are hosted in the Global South, often in countries with considerable debt burdens and high rates of poverty. The Global North’s containment approach to displacement and migration, combined with structural constraints perpetuated by decades of international humanitarian and development policies, has driven rightlessness and exclusion of refugees from social protection and societies. Open Society supports groups that recognize that a more equitable approach to sharing responsibility for the world’s refugees is essential.
![A formerly incarcerated woman has her first lunch out in 17.5 years, with the legal team who helped to reduce her sentence for drug possession, in Montgomery, Alabama, on May 8, 2018. © Lynsey Addario/Getty A group of women eating at a table](https://opensocietyfoundations.imgix.net/uploads/55b04891-4e22-4cf9-b07d-0f987ef1d05a/20230308-addario-alabama-prison-release-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C2000&w=760)
Open Society works to advance justice-oriented drug policies that decriminalize, equitably regulate, diminish the negative consequences of prohibition. We support the health, safety, and social inclusion of drug-involved populations and communities harmed by coercive drug policies.
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Press release
New Study: Failing Global Debt System Costs Lives
Long delays in putting a country back on its financial feet add to the damage when a government is forced to suspend its international debt repayments.
explainer
Why Responding to COVID-19 Requires Justice, Not Charity
![People wait outside a medical tent to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe, on March 29, 2021. Photo credit: © Tafadzwa Ufumeli/Getty People wait outside a medical tent to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe, on March 29, 2021.](https://opensocietyfoundations.imgix.net/uploads/3b22bdf6-4ef5-49ba-a7af-c065baf3e7b4/20210506-ufumeli-zimbabwe-coronavirus-vaccine-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=520&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C1688)
The development of effective vaccines has been a great achievement in the fight against COVID-19, but true success will not be won unless we fix vaccine shortages around the world and ensure affordable and wide access.
Vaccine Justice
Q&A: Africa’s Fight for Vaccine Equity
![Medical staff prepare COVID-19 vaccine doses for school teachers and staff in Tembisa, South Africa, on June 23, 2021. Photo credit: © Sharon Seretlo/Gallo Images/Getty Two women holding vaccination vials and syringes](https://opensocietyfoundations.imgix.net/uploads/a2717e01-3cee-4994-80ef-114b807b684d/20220321-south-africa-vaccination-teachers-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=200&q=80&rect=0%2C63%2C3000%2C1875)
As the pandemic enters its third year, African Alliance founder Tian Johnson shares reflections on how to make progress in the push for vaccine equity and what African civil society organizations are asking for now.