Last week, the Bill and Melinda Gates released their annual letter, setting out their “big bets” for the next 15 years of global development. Key to achieving their vision is the empowerment of women and girls, and the above video breaks down how to make it happen.
The video lays out a few ways we can unleash the power of women and help countries reach their full potential: educating girls, giving female farmers the same access to resources and tools as men, and helping women participate more equally in the labor force.
We’d like to add one more obvious one: giving women access to contraception.
Simply put, reproductive rights and access to family planning make all those other efforts more successful. They are the foundation on which women and girls can build the lives they want. When girls do not have access to contraception and sexuality education, they are more likely to become pregnant and drop out of school. And unplanned pregnancies that result from a lack of contraceptives can keep women out of the labor force and impede their ability to support themselves.
Healthy, empowered women are critical to creating strong families and prosperous communities. So let’s start by guaranteeing them basic, fundamental reproductive rights.
