Giving Compass' Take:

• In an interview with National Geographic, Bill and Melinda Gates said if they could wave a magic wand and fix any problems, they would create better access to contraceptives and eliminate malnutrition. 

• How are these goals in line with the SDGs? How close is the Gates Foundation to making these goals a reality? 

• Read about the education initiatives that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is currently working on. 

On Tuesday, September 18, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation released its second Goalkeepers report highlighting global data to show the progress of humanity.

The report featured what many refer to as the greatest news story of our young century: the massive reduction in people living in extreme poverty. Since 1990, the percentage of people living on less than $1.90 a day has decreased from 36% to 9%.

To promote the release of the report, Bill and Melinda Gates sat down to talk with National Geographic Magazine’s editor in chief, Susan Goldberg. During the interview, Goldberg asked what problem they would fix if they had a magic wand to wave.

Melinda Gates said she’d make contraceptives available to women everywhere. “Family planning is crucial anywhere, in any community around the world, because if a woman can decide if and when to have a child, she’s going to be healthier and her child is going to be healthier,” Melinda Gates said.

Bill Gates said that he’d eliminate malnutrition.

Over 50% of children in Africa suffer from malnutrition which affects their mental and physical development.“I’m super excited that by the end of the decade we expect to have cheap interventions so those kids will fully develop,” Bill Gates said. “That means all the investments you make in their education, wanting to benefit from their productivity, will work far better. So if there was just one thing, it’s the intervention to stop malnutrition.”

Read the full article about philanthropists goals for global development by Tod Perry at GOOD Magazine