The Gates Foundation will be spending $2.1 billion on work related to gender equality over the next five years.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the announcement, noting the amount is one of the largest commitments the foundation has made in more than 20 years. The total comes out to about $420 million a year.
The $2.1 billion will be broken down into three areas, $650 million for women’s economic empowerment, $1.4 billion for family planning and health, $100 million over five years, and $230 million over 10 years for accelerating women in leadership, according to a statement released by the foundation.
“The world has been fighting for gender equality for decades, but progress has been slow. Now is the chance to reignite a movement and deliver real change,” Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation, said in a statement.
She added, “The beauty of our fight for gender equality is that every human being will gain from it. We must seize this moment to build a better, more equal future.”
Bill Gates, the co-chair of the Gates Foundation, also said, “Gender equality must be at the center of the world’s efforts to make progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.”
He continued, “Prioritizing gender equality is not only the right thing to do, it is essential to fighting poverty and preventable disease.”