No country has escaped the setbacks caused by the pandemic, but its impact on low-income countries is particularly devastating.

The World Bank estimates that the pandemic and efforts to contain it will drive 150 million people around the world into extreme poverty.

Yet there is hope even in the face of this grim reality. Governments and international development organizations have accumulated a great deal of knowledge about what works to reduce poverty and increase economic activity.

As the Biden administration works to build a post-pandemic environment, here are lessons it can apply to global economic development:

- American leadership matters. The U.S. has led and sustained the global economic development agenda for the past 70 years. There have been notable successes, such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which started in 2003 under George W. Bush.

This ongoing, multibillion-dollar global effort to treat and prevent HIV/AIDS is widely considered to be a hugely successful public health effort. Not only has PEPFAR saved more than 20 million lives and prevented millions of HIV infections in more than 50 countries, it has also enabled millions of people to continue to work and contribute to their communities, helping promote economic growth, food security and poverty reduction.

- We need more and better globalization. At its base, globalization is the integration of economic activity around the world. It has its downsides, which have been well documented by both its opponents and supporters.

Globalization has significantly reduced the potential for the kind of devastating wars that defined the first half of the 20th century. Because of their interdependence, great powers must now cooperate on numerous issues to promote their interests. Global integration has transformed many enemies into competitors, and even fierce competition is far better than armed conflict.

Low-income countries seeking to lift themselves out of poverty need more investment — especially in sustainable agriculture and clean energy — more new ideas and more help building institutions based on the rule of law and accountability to citizens.

- Humility and patience are critical. The U.S. and other high-income countries have faced significant challenges over the past two decades. Many of those challenges — and even crises — were born of an inability or unwillingness to address internal economic and social imbalances and often unrealistic desires to transform other societies in their images.

Ultimately, communities and nations are responsible for their own improvement.

Kate Schecter is the president and CEO of World Neighbors, which works with communities in 13 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean on lasting solutions to poverty, disease and climate change.