The Moment of Lift Book Summary

The Moment of Lift Book Summary Preview

Key Insights

Throughout recent years, the subject of gender equality has become center-stage. 

With movements such as #MeToo, issues that women have been facing for centuries all over the globe are finally coming to light. 

However, this light is being shed on the more developed countries of the world, rather than the less developed countries where women may not have any rights at all. 

“If you want to lift up humanity, empower women. It is the most comprehensive, pervasive, high-leverage investment you can make in human beings.”- Melinda Gates

In the book, “The Moment of Lift” by Melinda Gates, you will learn about the journey the author and philanthropist experienced leading her charitable foundation. Plus, the insight she gained about the lengths we have to go to have true gender equality around the world. 

Access To Family Planning 

Melinda Gates founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000. This foundation was established as a way to give wider access to healthcare around the world, especially in places of great poverty. 

One of the big missions this foundation had was giving free vaccines to children in developing countries. 

During one of her visits to Malawi, Africa, Melinda talked with women who had traveled long distances with their children in order to get them vaccinated. 

Many times during these conversations, the women would bring up the subject of female contraceptives. These poverty-stricken families felt there was no hope for the future because they had no way to provide for their children. And, having more children only made household financial issues worse. 

“Shaming women for their sexuality is a standard tactic for drowning out the voices of women who want to decide whether and when to have children.”- Melinda Gates

To give some background on the availability of family planning methods, in 2012, 260 million women in the world’s poorest countries were using forms of birth control. However, there were still 200 million women in those countries that wanted to utilize this form of family planning but weren’t able to because they didn’t have access to it. 

It’s easy to understand the benefits of being able to use birth control methods. In the 1970s a study that was performed in Bangladeshi gave half of the women in a village birth control while denying the other half. Twenty years later, they revisited their families. The women with birth control were healthier, compared with the ones who didn’t have access to it. Their children were healthier too and more likely to attend school to get an education. 

Women who are able to choose whether or not they want to carry a child can plan their family life, careers, and education better than those who don’t have a choice. 

For very poor families, access to birth control can help future generations become more prosperous, rather than staying in a cycle of poverty generation after generation. 

The role of birth control now is to help empower women and their families around the world. Even in the U.S., this is true. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) allows all women access to free forms...

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