Gender-Responsive Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention, Response and Recovery (PPRR)

Policy Brief

As governments and stakeholders prepare for future pandemics, frontline voices of health and care workers offer invaluable guidance. The imperative echoes clearly – to protect, empower, and involve women health workers. This entails safeguarding them from gender-based violence, ensuring a steady and gender-appropriate supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), and providing essential mental health support. In addition, specialized training programs, mentorship, and equitable compensation are urgently needed to empower women health workers for leadership roles in global health and health policy.

This policy brief is a call to governments to prioritize the safety, empowerment, and equitable treatment of women health workers in all their future pandemic preparedness efforts.

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About the brief

We asked our diverse network of chapter members to draw on their lived experiences of the pandemic and recommend concrete national-level policies, actions, activities, and programs related to women health workers that governments should implement to better prepare for and respond to future pandemics. Feedback from representatives from 37 WGH Chapters in 31 countries- comprising health workers, academics, policymakers, non-governmental organizations, government representatives, and students- informed the recommendations of this policy brief.

Their insights reflect both common global concerns and region-specific challenges, highlighting the need for comprehensive policies that address the gender-specific needs of women health workers while considering regional and individual variations. The survey data (in quotes) and the results of our qualitative analysis form the foundation for the evidence-based recommendations presented in this policy brief. Key themes emerged that were common across countries with diverse socio-economic statuses and cultural contexts.

Key Recommendations

Governments must prioritize women health workers and their safety
Governments must invest in capacity building of women health workers to respond in pandemics
Health systems must become more gender-responsive
Governments must conduct regular risk assessment of health systems infrastructure and the workforce
Governments must ensure better working conditions, benefits, and incentives for women health workers
Governments must invest in innovative, collaborative and gender-responsive research
Governments must improve coordination and dissemination of information

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This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of IDRC or its Board of Governors.