Melinda Gates Is Saving The World and Fighting For Women's Rights

Meet the woman who wants to save the world. “Why is this not the time for women? It is the time for women. We shouldn’t live in a society where men and women aren’t equal,” says Gates. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had invested billions of dollars into empowering women and girls. During the week of the UN General Assembly, Melinda spent every minute she had on stage urging world leaders to do the same. “…I think what you’re hearing are more and more voices coming forward - Men and women’s voices saying, ‘Yes, this is the time, this is what’s right to do,’” says Gates, “And what we were trying to highlight today is to make sure that all these little grassroots movements that women start, when you put them together, you see what they become around the world, like we saw in January [with the Women’s March].” Gates says the grassroots movements are being ignored and underfunded. “We need to fund those women because they know what’s going on that needs to be dealt with in their communities, and they know how to get this grassroots change.” She’s working with Canada, The Netherlands and several organizations to support women’s grassroots movements fighting for gender equality all across the world. “I think sometimes we read the headline news and we don’t think that it is, [but] the world is getting better.” Over the past two decades, the number of people living in poverty has been cut in half, 6 million fewer children die every year, and 300 million women now have access to contraception. Gates reminds us though, “…that progress is not inevitable. We have to keep up leadership and we have to keep up funding and we have to keep our eyes on these goals that the United Nations has set. Otherwise, we’re not going to see the incredible progress that we could see in the next 15 years.” The Gates Foundation hosted a Goalkeepers Awards dinner where activists were honored for getting sh*t done. The following day, more Goalkeepers like President Barack Obama and Malala Yousafzai spoke. “If we don’t keep up this incredible generosity, this foreign aid that the United States and other places give, this progress isn’t going to keep happening,” warns Gates, “And we also have to be realistic about the fact that we’re about to have the biggest cohort of adolescents coming through the continent of Africa, and if we make the right investments for them, they will lift up their communities and they will lift up that continent…if we don’t make those investments, it’s a very different story.” Gates closes the interview by emphasizing that now more than ever, the world needs bold leadership and to be making the right moves.

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