Melinda French Gates Launches $250 Million Global Fund to Address Women’s Health Crisis

Image: Vanity Fair

In a bold effort to address the global neglect of women’s health, Melinda French Gates has announced a $250 million (£190 million) initiative aimed at improving the physical and mental health of women worldwide. As part of her organisation, Pivotal, the new fund, titled "Action for Women’s Health," will provide grants to support innovative approaches to health care and reproductive rights.

French Gates highlighted alarming disparities in women’s health during the launch, noting that despite advances in medicine, women face “unacceptable” inequalities. In both rich and poor nations, women spend more years suffering from ill health and encounter significant barriers to basic care, she said. Globally, more than 700 women die each day in childbirth, a statistic French Gates deemed “unacceptable.”

A key area of concern is the rise of “maternity care deserts,” particularly in the U.S., where the overturning of Roe v Wade in 2022 has left millions without access to reproductive care, including abortions. “There is so much at stake for women and families,” French Gates told The Guardian, emphasising the importance of the upcoming U.S. elections for women’s rights.

The new initiative will provide grants of up to $5 million each to groups worldwide working to improve women’s health. “To fully exercise power over their lives, women need to be mentally and physically healthy. And yet, women’s health is being neglected everywhere,” French Gates said. She also pointed out the global scale of the issue, noting that more than 1 billion women and girls suffer from malnutrition and a woman dies every two minutes due to complications during childbirth.

The launch comes less than five months after French Gates left the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, an organisation she co-founded with her former husband. This latest $250 million pledge is part of a broader $1 billion commitment French Gates has made over the next two years to support women and families globally.

The Action for Women’s Health initiative will be managed by Lever for Change, a nonprofit affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and aims to fund groups that have historically been overlooked in global health efforts.

“There are so many amazing organisations working to improve women’s health, and this call is about getting them the funding they need and making sure women everywhere can access the care they deserve,” said French Gates.

The global consequences of restrictions on reproductive rights, including the U.S. abortion bans, are central to this initiative. “With Roe overturned, women have been denied emergency care, maternal mortality rates have continued to rise, and maternity care deserts are becoming more common,” French Gates said. She endorsed U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, noting the critical role of the upcoming election in determining the future of reproductive rights.

The initiative seeks to empower organisations that are deeply embedded in their communities and have a track record of success in advancing women’s health. Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change, expressed optimism that the open call for grants will extend critical funding to underserved areas. “Action for Women’s Health will lift up community-informed groups around the world with deep lived experience of the issues they work on,” she said.

French Gates remains hopeful that, despite the grim statistics, real progress can be made. “This is unacceptable, but there is reason for hope. Organisations around the world are taking innovative approaches to addressing these challenges,” she concluded.

As the world grapples with increasing challenges to women’s health and rights, the $250 million initiative represents a crucial step towards addressing these disparities and ensuring that women everywhere have access to the care they need.