Thursday, March 8, 2018

Gates Foundation Launches $170 Million Gender Equality Initiative

Philanthropy News Digest
March 6, 2018


The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a $170 million initiative to advance gender equality globally through the economic empowerment of women.
Over the next four years, the foundation's new Gender Equality strategy will focus on connecting women to market opportunities, ensuring that they have access to financial services, and supporting peer groups that build women's collective knowledge, economic power, and voice. Economic power is one of the most promising entry points for gender equality, Gates Foundation co-chair Melinda Gates argues in a post on Quartz. In the post, Gates notes that while fully a third of married women in the poorest countries have no control over household finances, those who do are far more likely than men to spend money on nutritious food, health care, and education; and that when women gain access to a bank account, they work outside the home more, which not only increases their income but changes men's perception of them.