Nigeria
In 2020, Women in Global Health Nigeria was established to bring visibility and recognition to Nigerian women shaping global health programming, policy and advocacy in communities in Nigeria and the diaspora. The Chapter’s main goal is to be inclusive by incorporating all genders (male and female) from all career stages and levels within the healthcare space regardless of tribe, religion, age, and socioeconomic status, in order to achieve gender transformative leadership.
Women in Global Health Nigeria is hosted by Pathfinder International, Nigeria Country Office.
Nigeria Chapter
is working to:
- Build an effective, inclusive, and supportive network for Nigerian-based and women of Nigerian origin, working in global health.
- Increase the gender parity ratio until there is equal representation of men and women in health leadership positions in UN agencies, national health governance, academia, STEM, health entrepreneurship, law, and other health-related fields in Nigeria.
- Establish partnerships with multilateral sectoral organizations that support the gender intersection and inclusion agenda.
- Influence/shape national policy that will improve: access to a skilled health workforce for women, the gender pay-gap, maternal and child health
- Empower/mentor young women and girls through the implementation of workshops that will amplify the current contribution of Nigerian women in the health sector and provide them with the necessary skills to seek future leadership opportunities.
WGH Nigeria’s mission is to promote gender equity in healthcare by empowering women, addressing barriers they face, and driving systemic change.
As Nigeria attained 60 years of independence on October 1st, 2020, WGH Nigeria celebrated the role of women in nation-building, especially in healthcare by hosting a campaign titled “Gender Inequality: The Real Pandemic”. The campaign with the hashtag, #9jawomenat60, ran from the 28th of September to the 5th of October 2020 and aimed to draw attention to the current role that Nigerian women play in healthcare, and the inequities that prevent them from seeking and leading within the system.
The campaign featured some members of the WGH Nigeria executive team, advisory board members, and other individuals including Toyin Saraki, Njide Ndili, Country Director for PharmAccess Foundation; Dr. Kole Shettima, Director of the African Office for the MacArthur Foundation.
Additionally, we collaborated with Helium Health, the largest healthcare technology company in Africa, to implement the campaign.
Additional initiatives:
- In 2020, WGH Nigeria contributed to the WGH COVID 50-50 country Chapter level report which detailed the effects of COVID 19 across the globe and the particular ways in which women, as health workers and domestic and social caregivers are disproportionately affected.
- WGH Nigeria contributed to the WGH/ FIND report which outlines the barriers women face in accessing testing, which countries must address to ensure the health of all women and girls, and ultimately the health system. It also highlights how empowered women are formidable forces for change in health.
- Authored a thought leadership piece for Nigeria Health watch on the gender gap in women’s leadership across health sectors in Nigeria.
Co-Founder/Co-Chairs:
- Calbeth Chika Alaribe
- Adepeju Adeniran
