The vision of achieving gender equality in global health leadership is vast and ambitious. As a national chapter of WGH, there are many questions we have to ask ourselves: What is the purpose of our community? Why is gender equality important? What can we meaningfully do on a local and national level? How will we know if we’re achieving anything?
To start answering these questions, it can be useful to break things down:
WHY does gender equality in global health leadership matter?
WHAT are our objectives in addressing the issue?
HOW will we achieve these and monitor our impact?
The ‘why’ underpins everything we do, and remains a constant driver of our vision. The ‘what’ and ‘how’ are more flexible: they will be shaped by evidence, new ideas, and the evolving needs of our membership community. This is why we want to hear from you to inform our strategy.
WHY
Statement of Purpose
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), women represent 70% of the global workforce, yet only hold 25% of senior leadership positions. Gender inequity in the health workforce is indicative of a wider problem in global health: addressing gender inequities in the health and social workforce could have enormous impact towards achieving the SDGs.
Among organisations analysed by Global Health 50/50, the median salary for women is 13.5% lower than for men (primarily UK based organisations. Men are 50% more likely to reach senior management than women.
WHAT
The specific objectives of WGHUK will be based on information gathered from surveys and partner organisations, to highlight the priorities of women in the UK global health community. We want to ensure that the work we do is driven by members. Some of the objectives we might consider include:
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sharing and celebrating the achievements of UK women in global health
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promoting gender transformative approaches in leadership
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connecting multi-sector stakeholders to foster collaboration and exchange of knowledge and ideas
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advocating for intersectional gender equity across global health institutions
HOW
How we achieve our objectives will likewise be informed by data we gather from reaching out to women and organisations across the UK. Examples of the sort of work we might undertake include:
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creating spaces and opportunities, such as events and digital platforms, for networking and community building
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working closely with partners to double down efforts on intersectional gender equality and dismantling structural colonialism in global health
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adding our voice to global advocacy initiatives on gender equality in health leadership and fostering close working relationships with sister WGH chapters
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campaigning against all forms of gender discrimination, such as the gender pay gap, gender based violence, and sexual harassment