Billionaire Bill Gates' ex-wife donates $1 billion to women's rights

Melinda French Gates has left the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

"It's shocking to think that my 1-year-old granddaughter will probably grow up in an environment where individuals have fewer rights than they did in my time," Melinda French Gates wrote in an editorial published in The New York Times on May 28.

Ms. French Gates said she made the decision amid political violence against women and concerns about reproductive health globally.

She pointed out that women across America are denied the right to abortion under almost any circumstances.

"We continue to be a developed economy where the government does not provide for workers who need time off to deal with family issues. And the number of teenage girls who have considered suicide and who feel persistently sad and hopeless is at a decade high," Ms. French Gates analyzed.

Despite the urgent need, she said only about 2% of charitable money in the US goes to organizations focused on women and girls' rights, and only about 0.5% goes to organizations that serve women of color.

She cited data showing that reducing the time women spend in poor health could add up to $1 trillion to the global economy by 2040.

That's why she decided to donate $1 billion over the next two years to efforts for women's rights and family health.

Over the past three decades, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, led by Ms. French Gates and her ex-husband Bill Gates, has donated a total of $77.6 billion to charitable activities around the world. Earlier this month, she announced her departure from the foundation and opened a new direction for herself, focusing on women's rights.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vo-cu-ti-phu-bill-gates-quyen-1-ti-usd-cho-nu-quyen-185240528214640792.htm