Ethiopia
WGH Ethiopia joined as the 51st chapter in November 2023, led by five young women health professionals, and supported by an Advisory Council of nine senior global health experts. The Chapter works to advance gender equity in health in Ethiopia through advocacy, capacity building, and thought leadership.
Ethiopia Chapter
is working to:
- Women’s Leadership in the Health Sector: while published data in Ethiopia remain limited, existing evidence highlights a notable gap between women’s representation in the health workforce and in leadership. The Chapter aims to elevate women leaders through targeted advocacy, mentorship, and learning initiatives, leveraging internal insights to guide ongoing efforts.
- Safety of Women Health Workers: despite the critical role of women in Ethiopia’s health workforce, many continue to face serious safety challenges, including sexual harassment and abuse. The Chapter seeks to strengthen national action through advocacy and policy action for workplace protections and gender-transformative systems.
- Women’s Health and Rights: persistent gaps in maternal health, family planning, and cervical cancer screening highlight the need for more integrated, gender-transformative policies. The Chapter works to close these gaps through policy and systems review, and targeted awareness efforts to strengthen a gender-transformative approach in health programs.
WGH Ethiopia is advancing gender equity in Ethiopia’s health sector by empowering women leaders, ensuring workforce safety, and promoting women’s health and rights.
Over the past year, WGH Ethiopia has been implementing its flagship project Strengthening Gender Equity in Ethiopia’s Health System. This project represents a foundational step in the Chapter’s long-term vision to build a gender-responsive health system in Ethiopia by combining capacity building, network mobilization, and evidence-driven advocacy.
Advocacy and Sensitization
The Chapter’s strategic digital campaigns across its social media platforms have reached over 120,000 impressions and 1,000 engagements to date, effectively raising awareness on gender gaps in health leadership, and debunking common myths and stereotypes on women’s leadership in health. This advocacy further highlighted the contributions of women leaders in health, amplifying their visibility through its #MentionWomenInHealth campaign, a digital initiative that has been recognized by leading public health figures and institutions.
Capacity Building
Complementing its advocacy efforts, the Chapter supported the African Union Commission’s Women, Gender and Youth Division in delivering a Gender Integration and Equity Capacity Building series at Africa CDC. This initiative included piloting a Gender Integration Scorecard, designed to support Africa CDC in assessing workforce structures and programmatic practices along the gender continuum, guiding improvement plans, and strengthening accountability for gender equity in health governance.
Strategic Engagements
In 2023 – 2025, WGH Ethiopia strategically engaged in national, regional, and continental convenings such as ICPHC, AHAIC and CPHIA to strengthen partnerships, amplify young women’s voices, and influence policy and practice on gender integration in health. These engagements served as critical opportunities to position the Chapter as a thought leader in advancing equity and women’s leadership in health.
- Iman Mubarek
- Sitra Nuredin
- Eleleta Surafel
- Kalkidan Lakew
- Mewded Eshetu