Devex: Opinion: A call to action on gender equality in global health
Roopa Dhatt, executive director and co-founder of Women in Global Health (WGH); Ann Keeling, policy fellow at WGH; Nicole Schiegg, strategic adviser to WGH and partner in the C5 Collective; and Kelly Thompson, programming specialist at WGH

“…Achieving gender equality requires bold action from strong leaders … We call on WHO and its member states to continue to promote gender equality in WHO leadership positions in Geneva and throughout the regions and country offices. This requires the meaningful engagement of men and women in the technical programs of WHO, as well as active monitoring, data generation, and the adoption of evidence-based best practices that promote gender parity and equality in health governance across WHO and in member states. … We will propose reforms to the WHO secretariat that will institute specific measures to achieve gender parity in their top leadership; ensure equal representation of both women and men in our delegations to the World Health Assembly and WHO Executive Board meetings and regional governance meetings; and maintain gender parity in the organization of all panels and events that we convene during the WHA and other high-level international and regional global health events. … WGH will continue to work for gender equality and women’s leadership at all levels in the global health workforce because gender equality is smart global health…” (1/26).