We ’re Finally Coming to Grips with Gender Discrimination and Inequality in the Health Workforce

December 12, 2017At last, our field is facing the facts.Looking over the program of theFourth Global Forum on Human Resources for Health (HRH), held in Dublin last month, it was clear how far the field has come in collectively recognizing the importance of gender equality in the health workforce.  In Dublin, some aspect of gender was central to four of the conference sessions, and a new Gender Equity Network, coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) andWomen in Global Health, made up of research, advocacy, and implementation institutions, has already begun work on a two-year plan of action.This is a far cry from the marginal status of gender equality at the 2013 Third Global Forum on HRH in Recife, Brazil.  Sexual harassment undermines effective health sector leadership.The new legitimacy of gender equality in the premier global gathering of HRH professionals is a result of 20 years of concerted, evidence-based advocacy, research, and publication. We first saw these shifts in the global policy dialogue and the consensus reflected in the  Sustainable Development Goals (5 and 8), the 2016 WHOGlobal Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030, and the 2016 WHOReport of the High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth.  But I remember a time —as recently as 2014—when the findings I had submitted to a well-known peer-reviewed journal concerning patterns of gender discrimination in health education and employment settings were politely...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Source Type: news