GWL Voices hosted a WHA 78 Side Event highlighting the findings of their Spotlight on Women in Global Health Leadership report and focusing on the continued barriers to advancing women’s leadership in global health. It was a productive conversation where leaders from GWL Voices, government, multilateral organisations, and NGOs discussed potential solutions and the way forward for increasing women’s access to leadership roles at the subnational, federal, and international levels. 

Over the past few decades, the number of women in global health leadership positions has increased, but the progress being made is still too slow and fragile. The four organisations assessed in the GWL Voices report – the WHO, World Bank, Global Fund, and Gavi – were found to have long-term commitments to gender parity in recruitment and staffing at all levels. However, gender representation in many parts of these organisations remains unequal. Additionally, at both the global and national scales, organisations and governments are facing budget gaps, which have historically been addressed by backtracking on hard-won women’s rights. Within women’s leadership, there is an even more dire need for advancing diversity in women’s leadership; for instance, the report found that women of colour, particularly from the Global South, face the compounded barriers of racism, tokenism, and limited access to informal networks. 

The panel, hosted by GWL Voices, opened with introductory remarks from Katherine Urbáez, Executive Director of the Health Diplomacy Alliance. Urbáez spoke of the operational roadblocks still present when trying to elevate women leaders. She also shared the benefits that stem from advancing women’s leadership, which include the development of more inclusive policies, resilient health systems and solutions-oriented approaches. Urbáez also stated that, “representation in leadership roles matters. When women are seen in leadership, it opens the door for others and helps dismantle long-standing barriers.” 

Following this overview was a panel discussion moderated by Ms. Joy Phumaphi, Executive Secretary of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA), who spoke of the hiring and promotion issues faced by women trying to advance into global health leadership positions. She also highlighted Botswana as a country struggling with women’s representation in its National Assembly, where women make up only 8.7% of the members. To address these issues, she emphasised the need to continue the push to have women on long and short lists during hiring processes for leadership positions, as well as to include women on interviewing panels. 

Moving on to the panel participants, The Honourable Helen Clark, GWL Voices co-founder and member, as well as former Prime Minister of New Zealand, shared harrowing statistics – for example, only 7% of all permanent representatives to the United Nations have been women. She also emphasised the necessity of more senior women using their positions to push the United Nations to continue its critical work in advancing women’s rights and leadership.  

Dr. Flavia Bustreo, GWL Voices member, presented the findings of the spotlight, including the multifaceted societal benefits that occur with increased women’s leadership, such as improved financial performance, innovation, organisational culture and climate, and health. She also explored organisation-specific shortcomings, such as the WHO having a female Director-General only twice in its 77 years of existence, although women are overrepresented in the lower, general service category. At the World Bank, the share of women in senior management is 40%. None of the boards studied has reached 50% female composition, as women account for 30% of the WHO Executive Board members, 46% of Gavi, and 32% of the Global Fund Board.  

Continuing the panel, Dr. Rajat Khosla, Executive Director of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH), spoke of the detrimental interplay between misogyny, sexism, and the patriarchy that persists across many global health organisations. There is power and privilege in these leadership roles, as he explained, and the global health community is lacking the diversity of women in leadership roles. Dr. Khosla also emphasised the importance of promoting women in STEM to help achieve women’s leadership. 

The panel concluded with Dr. Revati Phalkey, U.N. University Institute for Global Health Director, calling for a transition away from tokenistic and symbolic women’s leadership, especially of women of colour, who face compounded barriers. She also explained the benefit of leveraging male allies for advocacy efforts, emphasising the need for greater transparency within organisations. Dr. Phalkey also stressed the need for bottom-up solutions to internalise and institutionalise women’s leadership. 

Overall, by clarifying the roadblocks and proposing tangible solutions for increased women’s leadership in global health, the conversation combined data with lived experiences to foster an environment for discussing potential solutions, including the importance of mentorship, networking, and policy changes. Our Alliance is committed to advancing women’s leadership in global health through advocating for systematic policy change, as well as increased mentorship and networking opportunities. This event, by outlining the struggles still facing women pursuing leadership roles and proposing potential solutions, aligns with our approach to support policy advocacy for change and our priority to empower the next generation of leaders. 

Key Takeaways: 

• Ensuring representation of women in leadership leads to improved outcomes in areas such as health, organisational culture, innovation, financial performance, and other women’s careers and aspirations 

• Current national and international policies need to be designed to ensure gender parity in all aspects of the governance of health institutions and political representation 

• We must transform the organisational, societal, and individual mindsets to ensure gender equity in health leadership 

• Partnerships and collaboration are key to elevating women in global health leadership