Melinda French Gates has announced a $250 million global open call, “Action for Women’s Health,” to fund organizations working to improve women’s mental and physical health. This initiative, launched through her organization Pivotal Ventures, is part of a larger $1 billion commitment to advance women’s power globally by 2026.
For far too long, women’s health has been underfunded, overlooked, and misunderstood. There’s so much we don’t know about women’s mental and physical health, but the data we do have shows that women are being neglected.
Women spend 25 percent more of their lives in poor health compared to men, yet millions of women around the world can’t access the health care they need. Globally, we lose nearly 800 women every day to preventable pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications. More than 1 billion women and girls suffer from malnutrition, and more women than men are living with depression and anxiety.
These health inequities not only impact women’s daily lives, but they can also hurt women’s futures. Because when women are navigating health issues and can’t get quality care, it can become harder for them to pursue the opportunities they want and participate fully in society. The long-term impact this has—not only on women, but on their families, communities, and economies—cannot be ignored.
It’s clear we need to do a better job of addressing the barriers to women’s health. The good news is that there are so many organizations around the world doing just that. We want to ensure they get the attention and funding they deserve—including through our open call. Ultimately, all of our futures depend on the investments we make in health today.
The $250 million fund is open to organizations worldwide that serve women, have a record of improving women’s mental or physical health, center equity in their approach, and are poised to scale their work. Successful applicants will receive flexible funding between $1 million and $5 million USD.
Haven Ley, Chief Strategy Officer at Pivotal, commented: “We hope that this open call will be a catalyst for future change, leading to more funding, more partnerships, more innovation, and more models to scale.”
The application process is now open. Organizations must register by 4 p.m. U.S. Central Time on December 3, 2024, and submit their full application by 4 p.m. U.S. Central Time on January 10, 2025. Awardees will be announced by the end of 2025.
