The Women in Global Health is a global network striving to achieve gender equality within Global Health leadership. Its German Chapter has recently published a Lancet correspondence article describing the network.
Only a mere 25% of leadership positions in global health are held by women, though they represent more than 70 % of the global health workforce. This is also the case in the UN System where only 23% of top leaders are women.
The Centre for Global Health at the University of Oslo is currently in a the process of establishing a Norwegian Women in Global Health network focusing on strengthening human resources in Global Health and connecting, networking and advocating for gender equality within academic, public and private sectors.
The Norwegian network is inspired by Women in Global Health - Germany, founded in 2017. The network has been gaining traction and expanding to other countries who wish to invest in reducing the gender gap in leadership. A correspondence article published in The Lancet from the German chapter describes the network:
"The objectives of Women in Global Health Germany are to increase the visibility of women in the network and their contributions to global health, to extend the network, to keep the network flexible, to meet regularly, and to enhance mutual support. The network will serve as an easy reference for these women to be taken into consideration for leadership positions, decision-making bodies, and presentations and talks on panels and Conferences."
Other Chapters, such as the Canadian Women in Global Health have also been busy gaining attention and support via The Lancet correspondence.
References:
1. WHO. Global strategy on human resources for health: workforce 2030. 2016. http://www.who.int/hrh/resources/global_strategy_workforce2030_14_print.pdf?ua=1
2. Human Resources for Health Global Resource Center. Gender and health workforce statistics. http://www.hrhresourcecenter.org/gender_stats
3. Ludwig S, Dhatt R & Kickbusch I. Women in Global Health - Germany network. The Lancet. 2018 Jul 14; 392: 120-1. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31205-4
4. Clark J, Hussain S, Slawecki E, Lawley S, Greenwood M, Hatcher-Roberts J, et al. Canadian Women in Global Health #CWIGH: call for nominations. The Lancet. 2018 Jul 14;392(10142):121–2. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31501-0