Who we are
Founded in 2015 when four early career women, who initially met online, encountered an overwhelming response on social media on a range of issues. Six years after launching as a not-for-profit that was entirely powered by volunteers and had no income, Women in Global Health now has 58 Chapters in 53 countries. With around 6,500 members and 100,000 supporters in over 100 countries, we are nurses, midwives, doctors, public health professionals, health policymakers, community health workers, researchers, pharmacists, and private sector health workers.
Women in Global Health is:
- A global movement
- A platform for all voices
- A catalytic force
- A strategic disrupter
What we do
Women in Global Health focus on four key advocacy areas:
- Equal representation in global health leadership
- New social contract for women health and care workers
- Gender Equity in Health Emergency Preparedness and Response
- Gender-Responsive Universal Health Coverage
- Movement and alliance building for gender equity in global health
Learn more about our advocacy areas.
Overcoming challenges in these areas will have far-reaching benefits: strengthening health systems and health security, advancing women’s empowerment, and boosting national and global economic growth.
How we do it
We leverage our biggest asset: our women-led grassroot network of global chapters and members to: mobilize, advocate, garner commitments and hold leaders accountable. Our approach is collaborative, supportive and empowering.
We believe that the voices of women – especially women from underrepresented backgrounds, for example from low- and middle-income countries – must be heard.
Mobilize
We mobilize networks by:
- Connecting emerging women health leaders around the world to call for gender equality
- Creating a platform for dialogue through events and workshops on leadership
- Promoting career advancement and creating opportunities for mentorship
- Providing tools and resources for the WGH network to take action
Advocate
We advocate for change by:
- Creating opportunities for the WGH network to engage in global health decision-making
- Collecting, analyzing and disseminating data and research
- Monitoring the policy environment and making targeted policy recommendations
Garner commitments
We garner commitments by:
- Engaging with global health leaders at all levels to improve policies and practices.
- Influencing organizations, multi-laterals and governments to implement and improve on existing gender transformative agendas.
Hold accountable
We hold leaders accountable by:
- Tracking and reporting improvements on gender policies and practices
- Analyzing and highlighting progress and gaps
Why we do it
We are working towards a world that values women as leaders in global health and catalysts for better health for all. This future state includes:
- Increased well-being and livelihoods of women, their families,
and their communities. - Greater progress on gender equality
- Stronger health systems and the delivery of higher quality care.
- Greater progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and better health for all genders.
Women make up 70% of the health
workforce and yet hold just a quarter
of the most influential leadership positions
Our impact
By leveraging our women-led global movement – the fastest growing and largest of its kind – we have advanced gender equity in global health. Over the last five years, WGH has:
- Grown to include 100,000 supporters in over 100 countries, with a grassroots network of 57 Chapters connecting women, their allies, and their local communities in 52 countries
- Entered into Official Relations as a Non-State Actor with the WHO in 2022, sending an official delegation to the 75th World Health Assembly
- Built a large online movement of more than 100,000 cross-channel supporters
- Gathered women’s perspectives in over 120 events and workshops featuring more than 1,100 international speakers
- Created a platform to elevate the voices of those affected by gender inequity in health, celebrating more than 120 women health leaders, including a further 50 celebrated through our own Heroines of Health awards
- Engaged in policy dialogue with global health leaders and policymakers on the need to accelerate gender transformative progress in the health workforce and co-chairing the Gender Equity Hub of WHO’s Global Health Workforce Network
- Spearheaded numerous successful advocacy campaigns to drive change, including a campaign highlighting the need to end #AllMalePanels in global health. As a result of our call to action for gender equality in global health, Dr Tedros Adhanom, Director-General, WHO, committed to achieve gender parity in WHO’s leadership team: a first for a UN agency
- Generated commitments from 40 global health leaders to promote gender-responsive global health
- Conducted research and published numerous articles and commentaries on gender equality in health in outlets such as The Lancet and British Medical Journal
- Been featured on Thomson Reuters, Exemplars in Global Health, The Telegraph UK, Devex, All Africa, BMJ Global Health, Health Policy Watch, Podcasts: Contain This & Global Health Collective, Forbes, Medical News Today, BMJ Opinion, World Economic Forum, the Hill, Just Security, and a range of other outlets
- Contributed to many reports outlining policy recommendations and highlighting gaps and progress, including the report Delivered by Women, Led by Men: A Gender and Equity Analysis of the Global Health and Social Workforce
