Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation releases optimistic Annual Letter

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, founded 20 years ago, released its annual letter for 2015 today titled, "Our Big Bet For The Future." The letter, which portrays a positive future and forecasts opportunistic changes in the next fifteen years, focuses on four areas of development including health, farming, banking and education. These four areas are forecasted to move in a positive direction through innovation. "We think the next 15 years will see major breakthroughs for most people in poor countries. They will be living longer and in better health. They will have unprecedented opportunities to get an education, eat nutritious food, and benefit from mobile banking," the letter reads. "These breakthroughs will be driven by innovation in technology — ranging from new vaccines and hardier crops to much cheaper smartphones and tablets — and by innovations that help deliver those things to more people." Writing on health, the Foundation hopes to make two halves of socio-economic sides equalize by saving newborns and eradicating several deadly diseases. By 2030 they hope to breakthrough rampant medical issues and get rid of polio, Guinea worm, elephantiasis & river blindness, and Malaria -which they don't think will be completely gone, but predict society will have the tools to do so. When it comes to farming, the Foundation hopes to lower the malnutrition that affects Africa's farmers and their families. Seven out of 10 people living in sub-Sahara Africa are farmers, however they only receive a fraction of the yields that American farmers earn. Through innovation, the Foundation predicts a 50 percent increase in farming yield, which could lead to Africa being able to feed itself by 2030. The letter also highlights mobile banking. Africans have few assets and don't have access to banks in order to utilize their assets effectively and efficiently. In 15 years, digital banking will give the poor "more control over their assets and help them transform their lives." And in the theme of innovation and technology, the letter concludes that more access to education through software will help close the literacy gap, close the gender gap, and help provide high-quality education for everyone. In an effort to provide these innovative technologies, resources, opportunities and applications to those in need, the letter urges citizens of the world to sign up to the Global Citizens initiative, which aims to educate people on how they can help those in need and start a dialogue with others who value the same issues. "The more global citizens there are, and the more active and effective they are, the more progress the world will make," Gates said.