Stories
Dive into thought-provoking stories and insights from voices around the world across critical issues. Discover fresh ways of thinking and inspiring solutions shaping our future.
Filter by Topic
Make this matter
We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to use AI to help more solutions reach the people who need them. But there are three things the world needs to get right, now.
Our Ideas
-
Why is it getting harder to grow our food?
Climate change is making farming less predictable, especially for smallholder farmers. Here’s why that affects incomes and jobs far beyond…
-
Teaching kids in their national languages is transforming classrooms in Senegal
In Senegal, a national bilingual education model is helping children learn to read earlier, participate more confidently, and stay in…
-
How classrooms in Senegal are opening doors through bilingual education
A bilingual education program in Senegal is teaching children in both their home language and French. Watch how this program…
-
When we invest in women, everyone gains
From mentorship to health care to financial inclusion, investing in women strengthens families, communities, and economic development.
-
The road to 2045
With 20 years to go, Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman lays out a roadmap for progress.
-
Helping every child reach their full potential—no matter where they’re born
For the next 20 years, our work is built on three pillars. Here’s why.
-
The digital finance fix helping Nigeria’s market vendors grow their businesses
See how a partnership between Lagos Business School and local innovators is using digital finance to empower small business owners…
-
Climate resilience is essential to a healthier, more prosperous world
We can’t secure health and prosperity without climate resilience. CEO Mark Suzman shares what works—and why now.
-
The digital solution giving Nigerians a fair chance
A locally built digital records system in Nigeria is protecting opportunities and transforming lives by making documents easy to access.
-
The cowpea farmer breaking norms in Nigeria
Meet the Nigerian farmer reshaping her community through climate-resilient cowpeas and women-led agricultural leadership.
-
A Kenyan agricultural economist is reviving ancient grains to boost climate resilience
Dr. Rebecca Jerop revives ancient grains like finger millet to help farmers adapt to climate change and improve nutrition and…
-
How an Indian scientist is developing climate-resilient chickpeas
Professor Chellapilla Bharadwaj is breeding higher-yield, hardier chickpeas, one of the cornerstone crops of his native India.
-
A mother’s mission to prevent spina bifida in Ethiopia
From hospital corridors to policy discussions, an Ethiopian mother is making families’ voices heard and advancing efforts to prevent birth…
-
How POCUS is changing pregnancy care in Kenya
The partnerships making it possible A handheld device may be small, but getting it into the hands of a trained…
-
Come to work with an obstetrician in Kano, Nigeria
Dr. Hadiza Galadanci—an OB-GYN and researcher in Kano, Nigeria—shows how practical innovations and local leadership are saving mothers’ lives today…
-
The road to 2045
With 20 years to go, Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman lays out a roadmap for progress.
-
How will global health innovations shape tomorrow? Take the quiz
Find out how cutting-edge future global health innovations will change the world of healthcare with our latest quiz.
-
Helping every child reach their full potential—no matter where they’re born
For the next 20 years, our work is built on three pillars. Here’s why.
-
Bill Gates: I’m Still Optimistic About Global Health
“I don’t expect most governments to suddenly restore foreign aid to historic levels. But I’m an optimist,” writes Gates.
-
What $2.5 billion can do: Four innovations advancing women’s health
The Gates Foundation today announced a $2.5 billion commitment through 2030 to accelerate research and development (R&D) focused exclusively on women’s…
-
The next big leap in vaccines: protecting babies before they’re born
A South African scientist who helped shape modern immunization is now focused on saving newborns through maternal vaccines.
-
The game-changing PPH protocol saving mothers’ lives in Kenya
A lifesaving bundle of innovations is stopping postpartum hemorrhage in its tracks
-
“I’m the guy who saves children’s lives”: One man’s vaccine mission
Emmanuel Mugisha builds trust in vaccines—connecting communities, saving lives, and leading the charge against typhoid and HPV.
-
This simple tool is helping prevent maternal deaths worldwide
A doctor’s first encounter with postpartum hemorrhage shaped a life-saving mission. Now his work is helping reduce maternal deaths across…
-
How one scientist is helping to outsmart the world’s deadliest animal
From a lab in North Carolina, entomologist James Austin helped develop a new kind of mosquito net to protect families…
-
The malaria researcher who won’t quit: Dr. Faith Osier
Dr. Faith Osier watched malaria devastate communities across Kenya. Now she’s building the science to stop it.
-
The hidden journey of a vaccine
Every year, vaccines save the lives of 3.5 to 5 million people. But getting them into people’s arms is an…
-
The TB epidemic at a turning point
Meet the researchers and advocates making progress against tuberculosis through innovation and Africa-based leadership
-
The road to 2045
With 20 years to go, Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman lays out a roadmap for progress.
-
How will global health innovations shape tomorrow? Take the quiz
Find out how cutting-edge future global health innovations will change the world of healthcare with our latest quiz.
-
Helping every child reach their full potential—no matter where they’re born
For the next 20 years, our work is built on three pillars. Here’s why.
-
What can the world learn from Cabo Verde’s fight against malaria?
A decades-long effort to eliminate malaria shows how persistence, partnership, and local leadership can turn an island nation into a…
-
One man’s mission to protect Liberia’s children from polio—one vaccine at a time
When polio resurfaced in Liberia after more than a decade, health worker Evans Lablah and his team mobilized a rapid…
-
The Global Fund works—these stories remind us why it’s essential
The Global Fund has helped save an estimated 70 million lives since 2002. Learn why continued investment is critical to…
-
Why two American teens want you to know about PEPFAR
A U.S. family witnesses PEPFAR’s life-saving impact in Kenya, sharing how global health programs change lives worldwide.
-
A new vaccine could change everything we know about tuberculosis
A new TB vaccine may save millions. Meet the South African doctor helping lead the charge.
-
5 things to know about how AI can benefit everyone
The 2026 Goalkeepers Report explores how AI could close longstanding gaps in global health and well-being—or widen them. The choices…
-
Three takeaways from the 2025 Goalkeepers Report
Three essential takeaways from the 2025 Goalkeepers Report on protecting children with smart investments and innovation.
-
We can’t stop at almost: Goalkeepers 2025
Watch the Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers event on Sept 22 in NYC—where global changemakers unite to discuss the roadmap to turn…
-
6 picks from an advocate for sustainable agriculture
When you need to look at a problem in a new light, turn to these recommendations from an advocate for…
-
6 picks from a surgeon and health activist
When you need to look at a problem in a new light, turn to this surgeon health activist’s recommendations that…
-
5 can’t-miss moments from Goalkeepers 2023
See what happens when a midwife, a TikTok star, Bill Gates, and Melinda French Gates get together in one room—joined…
-
6 picks from a young political leader
When you need to look at a problem in a new light, turn to this young political leader’s recommendations.
-
6 picks from scientist Thulile Khanyile
When you need to look at a problem in a new light, turn to this South African scientist’s recommendations.
-
Watch what Melinda French Gates, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Bill Gates and others said about the future of progress at Goalkeepers 2022
Over 450 changemakers from around the globe gathered to discuss why it is so important for the world to achieve…
-
The Rebuilders: Goalkeepers constructing the post-pandemic world
Foreword authored by Christian Vanizette. Lockdowns. Social distancing. A health crisis with effects that have rippled across society and reinforced…
-
Stories of Progress: Goalkeepers 2019
Goalkeepers Report 2019: Examining Inequality. How geography and gender stack the deck for (or against) you. The Goalkeepers 2019 event…
-
The power of the UN General Assembly
The range of challenges that will be discussed at UNGA is formidable, but every year, Mark Suzman is struck by…
Sign up for The Optimist newsletter
Subscribe to The Optimist to get weekly updates on the latest in global health, gender equality, education, and more.
By submitting your email to subscribe, you agree to the Gates Foundation’s Privacy & Cookies Notice.
Partners of Human Potential
Learn more about good people doing great things that can lead to even greater things.
Discover more
Search the foundation’s archives for content by keyword or topic.
-
Global partners respond to new Ebola outbreak
On July 24, the World Health Organization declared that an Ebola outbreak in the northwest region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was over. Just a week later, however,…
-
Under the microscope: Learning more about childhood mortality
There is still much unknown about the causes of childhood mortality. That is the focus of Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS), a project that digs deeper than verbal…
-
Why the global health community can’t afford to ignore nutrition and agriculture
Ndidi Nwuneli is determined to tackle the challenge of hidden hunger. The first step, she says, is to dispel the myth that Africans can’t help themselves. And the next step…
-
Insights from AIDS 2018
The International AIDS Conference is the largest conference on any global health issue in the world and first convened in 1985, at the height of the epidemic. What makes this…
-
The Democratic Republic of Congo just stopped a killer disease in its tracks. What’s next?
On May 8, an Ebola virus outbreak was reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Scott Dowell shares what we’ve learned and how that can help in the fight…
-
Learning to innovate during global emergencies
I always wanted to be a doctor, and when I saw television programs as a child about Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), I thought that’s what I want to do. Everyone…
-
Data show why we must be cautiously optimistic about reaching the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal
Our World in Data presented global trends research to the United Nation’s Executive Committee.
-
Keeping vaccination goals close, no matter how afar
New data released on July 16 showed that 9 in 10 infants worldwide received at least one dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccines in 2017, illustrating the progress and challenges in…
-
With a dash of banana-flavoring, the antibiotic azithromycin can be a remedy to childhood mortality
The results of a new study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that the rate of childhood mortality following a mass administration of azithromycin dropped by a…