05/29/2024 – 19:37
After resigning as co-president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda French Gates announced new philanthropy projects aimed at women’s rights. Melinda made the announcement in an article published in the American newspaper New York Timesinforming that the new actions will invest US$ 1 billion over 2 years, through the Pivotal foundation, founded in 2015 by Melinda to accelerate social actions.
In the article, Melinda explained that she will finance projects to develop the rights of women and their families around the world. According to her, recent years have brought a return in women’s rights, such as the return of the Taliban to Afghanistan. “As the global agenda fills up, women and girls are losing space,” she wrote.
The billionaire will also dedicate US$200 million to the fight for reproductive rights in the United States, mainly the fight for legal abortion, which has also seen returns in recent years. More than 10 American states have increased their bans since the Supreme Court ruling that changed the rule and removed the right to abortion in June 2022.
Melinda French Gates announced that she has already started directing funds to some institutions she admires. She announced a few: the National Women’s Law Center, the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The proposal is that by financing these and other institutions they can stop just defending rights and can attack threats.
A fund of US$240 million will be made available to a group of 12 people who Melinda trusts to spend as they wish, US$20 million each. Names like New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, athlete and maternal health advocate Allyson Felix, and Afghan educator Shabana Basij-Rasikh.
Another US$250 million will be made available through a public call that will be announced in the second half of the year. Institutions that work to improve women’s physical and mental health around the world may be eligible for funding.
Melinda will officially leave the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on June 7th, after being co-president for more than 20 years. In her divorce settlement with Bill Gates, she had access to an additional $12.5 billion for her philanthropic projects. After 27 years of marriage, the couple divorced amid accusations of ties between Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein.
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