ABOUT US
GH is an organization built on a global movement with the largest network of women and allies working to challenge power and privilege for gender equity in health. It is a US 501(c)(3) started in 2015 and has grown to include over 50,000 supporters in 90 countries and has 40 official chapters, with a majority in low-and middle-income countries. Through our country-level presence, we build and strengthen in-country political commitment to gender equality in health systems and reinforce these commitments through collective grassroots action. The global team and its network of chapters drive change by mobilizing a diverse group of emerging women health leaders, by influencing existing global health leaders to commit to transforming their own institutions, and by holding these leaders accountable.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Women in Global Health (WGH) is an organization, built on a global movement that brings together all genders and backgrounds to achieve gender equality in global health leadership. We believe that everyone has the right to attain equal levels of participation in leadership and decision-making regardless of gender. WGH creates a platform for discussions and collaborative space for leadership, facilitates specific education and training, garners support and commitment from the global community, and demands change for Gender Transformative Leadership.
OUR VISION
Gender equality within global health leadership.
OUR MISSION
To improve global health through Gender Transformative Leadership through the utilization of advocacy, training, education, research, policy recommendations, and networking and mentorship opportunities.
FIVE YEARS IN ACTION
We have convened multi-stakeholder, inter-generational dialogues across the globe and served the role of bringing together leaders across the at all career-levels in conversations about furthering gender equality in global health leadership. We have gathered these perspectives in over 100+ events with over 1000 participants in the past year through these dialogues and multiple conversations, using a partnership and volunteer model to support our work. Below is an outline of some of the recurring themes from these discussions.
Multiple layers of factors impacting women's entry to leadership in the health and care workforce - an ecological model
The ecological model in health situates individuals in their social and public policy context and identifies factors at different levels that impact upon individual action, in this case, the entry of women into health and care leadership. The model highlights public policy environments and systemic social factors that enable or constrain what may be perceived as individual decisions.
The model above highlights how action is needed at all levels to enable women to enter leadership in the health and social care sector and the critical need to analyse barriers in specific countries and contexts because they will differ significantly. Ninety countries, for example, have employment laws that restrict work women can do by law. A smaller number of countries have a paid parental law entitlement for fathers that enable parents to share child care, meaning the careers of mothers are less disrupted by time spent out of work.
Women in Global Health - Ecological Model (2021). Published in World Medical Journal in April 2018