Gates Foundation Invests $2.1 Billion in Gender Equality

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced on the 30th (local time) that it will invest $2.1 billion (approximately 2.37 trillion KRW) over five years to promote gender equality.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that this amount is the largest single investment made by the foundation in its 20 years since its establishment.

This fund, amounting to $420 million annually, will be used to support women's education and financial services, improve access to contraception, and help women advance to senior positions in healthcare, legal, and economic sectors.

Gender equality is one of the foundation's key focus areas alongside polio eradication and COVID-19 vaccine development.

The journal evaluated that Melinda French Gates, who filed for divorce from her husband Bill Gates, the Microsoft (MS) founder, has realized a project she has long been dedicated to.

Melinda announced this plan at the 25th anniversary event of the Beijing Declaration hosted by UN Women in Paris, France, on the same day.

She said, "The world has fought for decades to achieve gender equality, but the pace of progress has been slow," emphasizing that the COVID-19 pandemic caused women's job losses to be twice as high as men's, resulting in "an economic downturn primarily affecting women."

Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation, told WSJ in an interview that although Melinda leads the foundation's gender equality efforts, "Bill Gates was also deeply involved."

According to WSJ, Bill Gates had expressed skepticism for years about allocating foundation funds to gender equality. However, in a statement on the same day, Bill Gates expressed support, saying, "Prioritizing gender equality is the right thing to do."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.