September 20, 2019

The Editors urge advocates to “produce a stronger, more visible, and unified approach against the conservatism that is slowly eroding women's rights”. Women's movements have historically taken this exact approach, and continue to do so, forming alliances globally to resist attacks on our rights. Collective action is needed to fight pervasive threats to girls' and women's health and rights; many groups have long led such action. The newly formed Alliance for Gender Equality and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) comprises more than 100 civil society organisations from more than 43 countries. The Alliance stresses the centrality of gender equality and girls' and women's rights in UHC policy and decision making.

September 21, 2019

We support Simon Wright and Refiloe Mabjeane,who wrote on behalf of the Civil Society Engagement Mechanism for UHC2030, calling for a “radically different approach” to the UN high-level meeting on universal health coverage (UHC) on Sept 23, 2019. However, a radically different approach means prioritising gender equality and girls and women's health and rights in UHC, and this includes the health workforce.

February 01, 2019

The global health community is gearing up for 2019 in full force at the 144th World Health Organization Executive Board meeting. Key gender equality discussions are underway, with WHO transformation and universal health coverage center stage. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom opened the meeting with an optimistic call for change — and despite WHO’s vocal and written commitment to advancing gender equality, concerns were raised that gender-related determinants of health and broader gender equality may once again be left behind.

September 17, 2019

MANILA — Tired of seeing men dominating panels and leadership roles in the health sector, four early-career women, complete strangers to each other, connected on Twitter via the hashtag #wgh300 in 2015 contemplating the question: How to change the reality for women in health?

May 14, 2018

The WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office is gearing up to elect its new regional director in the lead-up to next week’s World Health Assembly in Geneva. In the WHO’s headquarters, the 2017 election of Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus promised a new approach and renewed focus on gender equality both in WHO’s leadership and programming — an approach based on the understanding that gender equality is smart global health. While gender parity has been achieved in leadership at WHO headquarters, it has not been matched by similar progress in all regional levels....

January 25, 2018

Without a doubt, women led the way in 2017. We raised our voices and joined together to advocate for human rights and dignity for every person. From the “Silence Breakers” to protestors in pink hats, women reclaimed our common humanity with bravery and courage....By Roopa Dhatt, Ann Keeling, Nicole Schiegg, Kelly Thompson

December 20, 2017

It was year marked by some wins for gender equality in global health, from senior appointments at WHO to the launch of several initiatives...But as Roopa Dhatt, co-founder and executive director of Women in Global Health suggests, old habits die hard. A number of photos circulated this year on social media showing mostly all-male panels at global health conferences and meetings. Calls for change have grown louder. The infamous photo of WHO’s Tedros in a meeting with World Bank President Jim Yong with mostly males at the discussion table sparked a huge outcry on social media early this year, prompting the WHO chief to admit they “need to do better.”

December 20, 2017

Just before the year ended, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced another set of officials to join his leadership team; nearly all of them women. The list of eight new appointees — which was not made available to the media but was seen by Devex earlier this week — include directors for some of the agency’s biggest and newest programs... Women in Global Health Executive Director and Co-Founder Roopa Dhatt said she is “thrilled” to see the WHO aid chief’s continued commitment to gender equality in WHO’s leadership, and she hopes the wider global health community and its leaders follow suit.

December 01, 2017

"Women in Global Health (WGH), an organisation that works to promote gender equality in global health, had said, “in contrast to the World Health Organization’s recent attempts at developing a more transparent and open process for the selection of their director general, the Global Fund process has been shrouded in secrecy…” The organisation also pointed out that only one woman was shortlisted for the position ahead of the elections."

December 01, 2017

Women in Global Health (WGH), an organisation that works to promote gender equality in global health, had said, “in contrast to the World Health Organization’s recent attempts at developing a more transparent and open process for the selection of their director general, the Global Fund process has been shrouded in secrecy…” The organisation also pointed out that only one woman was shortlisted for the position ahead of the elections.

October 02, 2017

Today we must also credit the Women in Global Health movement. Women in Global Health is a multi-stakeholder, inter-generational dialogue that brings together leaders at all career-levels in conversations about furthering gender equality in global health leadership across the globe. They stayed vigilant during the campaign – asking the important questions on equity and staying visible throughout the process...

August 27, 2017

Bresenham and GE Healthcare are part of the Women in Global Health leadership platform which is a movement that seeks equal gender participation in global health leadership. Bresenham was instrumental in launching the Heroines of Health award in 2017. The award showcased the work of 13 women from 11 countries including Kenya, Cambodia, India and Sweden.

August 10, 2017

With “Heroines of Health”, I had the great honor of telling the story of three remarkable women although there are so many more stories to be told. As I do screenings and workshops with “Heroines of Health”. My goal is to get global health experts to think critically about stories we tell about women - not just as expert storytellers but global health workers in general.

July 23, 2017

Fact: Women contribute nearly $3 trillion to the healthcare industry, but nearly half of it is unpaid and unrecognized.

Fact: Research has shown that women and girls are disproportionately affected by disease, and that when women are in leadership roles, they will make decisions that are more supportive of women and children and lead to improved women’s health outcomes.

June 23, 2017

Receiving an award is an accolade. Awards validate and bring visibility, help attract funding, hasten career advancement, and can consolidate career accomplishments. Yet, in the fields of public health and medicine, few women receive them. Between seven public health and medicine awards from diverse countries, the chances of a woman receiving a prize was nine out of 100 since their inception 

May 31, 2017

It is disappointing and rather ironic to note the lack of gender parity in leadership positions in the field of global health. Women carry a disproportionate burden of disease, comprise a large portion of the global health workforce, and in many leading universities make up the majority of global health students, even up to 84% as reported by one university.1,2 Yet, among the top 50 universities in the USA, women hold just over a third of global health faculty positions and a quarter of directorships in global health centres.

May 22, 2017

GE Healthcare and Women in Global Health, which strives for higher gender equality in international health management, are working collectively to honor women in healthcare all over the world, they introduced May 22 at the inaugural Annual Heroines of Health Awards ceremony at the World Health Assembly beneath approach in Geneva.

May 21, 2017

At this year’s World Health Assembly, GE Healthcare and Women in Global Health, a movement that strives for greater gender equality in global health leadership, are joining forces to honor and celebrate women in global health.

January 22, 2017

To the Members of the WHO Executive Board and Governing Bodies, as members of the global health community, we are writing to highlight the current leadership gap in global health and to call upon the WHO and its Member States to take decisive steps to achieve gender parity.