Women constitute more than half of the world's population, and have the same right as men to be represented at all levels of leadership, including global health. Women's underrepresentation at the top results from past and present discrimination and obstacles to their entering professions and advancing within them. Competent and qualified women exist for global health leadership positions. We know how to fix this. It is time we righted this historical wrong. By acting now, we will prevent it being carried forward for another generation.

 

We believe that a diverse, gender balanced leadership is key for achieving a more equitable world and realizing the vision of the sustainable development goals. It improves performance, strengthens workforce capacity, enhances connections with target populations, and accounts for specific considerations regarding needs of all people. It builds great resilience, making our health systems more adaptable and able to respond effectively.  Greater gender equality in global health leadership will play a vital role in addressing global health challenges.

 

Gender equality in global health leadership is economically sound. Recent studies show that achieving gender parity would be worth around $28 trillion to the global economy, an increase of 26%. Of that in global health, women are contributing around $3 trillion to global health care, but nearly half of this (2.35% of global GDP) is unpaid and unrecognized.

 

We believe fostering Gender Transformative Leadership, a leadership that is committed to promotes policies and programs that seek to transform gender relations to promote equality and achieve program objectives,  in global health will ensure that policy decisions that benefit all gender, including the health of women and girls are prioritized, leading to healthier lives, greater access to education and healthcare for all, and more substantial economic growth.