Zambia
Women in Global Health Zambia was initiated by Dr, Mwenya Kasonde, post a networking meeting with WGH team during the Africa Health Agenda International Conference held in Kigali, Rwanda in 2019. She was later joined by Dr. Choolwe Jacobs and Flata Mwale who now serve as Chapter Director and Deputy Director respectively. The chapter has grown its membership from 12 to a network of 285 members from different disciplines within the health sector.
The Chapter officially launched on 24th June 2022 with a face-to-face event that was graced with the presence of the Minister of Health Honorable Sylvia Masebo who committed to supporting the Chapter towards its goals.
Women in Global Health Zambia is a locally registered not-for-profit organization that is championing gender equity in health as a means to achieving Universal Health Coverage. This includes women’s leadership, SRHR, protection of female health workers, and gender-responsive pandemic preparedness and response.
Zambia Chapter
is working to:
- Promote gender equitable and gender transformative leadership in global and public health in Zambia
- Advocate for policy and systems change that increases women’s leadership and decision making in health
- Build capacity of women and girls through training, mentorship, research, and professional development
- Create strong platforms and networks for advocacy, collaboration, and social mobilization
- Strengthen partnerships with government, civil society, media, and international stakeholders
- Improve access to opportunities, resources, and supportive professional networks for women in health
- Generate and use evidence through research and monitoring to advance women’s leadership in health systems
- Align gender equality efforts with key Sustainable Development Goals linked to health, education, and poverty reduction
We work to advance gender equitable leadership in Zambia’s health sector through advocacy, partnerships, and capacity building.
Our mission is to create a platform for advocacy, social mobilization for change, and collaboration for gender equity in Global Health Leadership, women, and girls ‘empowerment, capacity building, research, and training.
While is evident that women working in the Zambian health sector have few opportunities to grow their educational and professional skills due to limited access to supportive networks and professional platforms that can support their growth as future leaders, we wish to contribute to changing this through chapter activities, coordinated through taskforces, namely; research, monitoring and evaluation, advocacy, media and communications and training and capacity building.
Women in Global Health Zambia aims to create momentum and sustain change for Gender transformative Leadership in both public and Global health for sustainable, equitable global health systems that will ensure no one is left behind in the race towards Universal Health Coverage.
We acknowledge that the factors influencing women’s ability to take up leadership are experienced throughout their life course and such, in the Zambian context, gender inequalities are strongly linked to SDGs including 1 (No poverty), 2 (Zero hunger), 3 (Good Health and wellbeing), 4 (quality education) and 5 (gender equality). We advocate for equal access to resources and opportunities and the promotion and support for girls and women’s rights.
We hope to draw attention through media coverage, building alliances and networks (local and international), garner commitments from line Ministries and whole of Government to challenge the status quo for women’s leadership in Health in Zambia.
Our accomplishments:
- Chapter membership growth from 15 in 2020 to currently over 80
- Conducted in-country assessment
- Set up a structured leadership
- Mobilised and grown a network of stakeholders working on similar issues
- Monthly engagement meetings with members
- Capacity building webinars
- Participated in the Fit for women campaign, the FIND diagnostic study, COVID 50/50
- Participated in the 2021 Women Leader Conference – Women-Led Movements: Challenging Power and Privilege for Gender in Equity in Health
- Participated in the CSW65 side event on Women’s Leadership in Ensuring Gender Equality in the COVID-19 Vaccine Roll Out, Therapeutics and Care
