Women in Global Health Norway Inspiration Series

• WGH Norway acknowledges the urgency of acting towards gender equity in global health leadership positions.
• Women make up approximately 75% of the health workforce and yet their representation at higher levels of global health leadership is limited.
• Our next speaker, Bente Mikkelsen will focus on her experience with global health leadership in an international organization such as the World Health Organization (WHO).

While reflecting on her personal journey, she will also discuss women’s leadership in regard to the benefits and barriers that still exist today in an international context. She will also refer to women’s leadership and gender equality in the field of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) since this is her current field of expertise. Finally, Bente will share advice for students and young professionals and here we encourage the audience to interact by posing questions.

Bente Mikkelsen is the Director of Noncommunicable Diseases in the division of UHC/Communicable and Noncommunicable diseases at the World Health Organization Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. She was formerly the Director of the Division of Noncommunicable Diseases and Promoting Health through the Life-course at the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (Copenhagen, Denmark), Head of Secretariat for the Global Coordination Mechanism on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (WHO GCM/NCD) at the World Health Organization Headquarters (Geneva, Switzerland) from its inception in 2014 as well as a former CEO of the Southern and Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority. Dr Mikkelsen is trained as a gynecologist and obstetrician and holds a master’s degree in Health Administration and Management from the University of Oslo. Her current focus is on achieving the SDGs through the reduction of premature deaths from NCDs in the context of WHO General Programme of Work, and working across sectors with multi-stakeholders, within and beyond the health sector using innovation, implementation research, health literacy and new technologies.