The WHO is committed to comprehensive commitments to women’s empowerment and health

The World Health Organization has announced multiple commitments to drive change to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in all their diversity at the Forum for Generational Equality, held last week in Paris. WHO commitments were aimed at stopping gender-based violence; promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights; and support for health professionals as well as feminist movements and leadership. These commitments shape a progressive and transformative plan to promote gender equality, health inequalities, human rights and the empowerment of women and girls globally.

Forum, marking the twenty-fifth anniversary The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on Women, came at a critical juncture, and COVID-19 exacerbated existing gender inequalities. The WHO has led in two key areas of the Forum: the Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence (along with UN Women and other partners) and the Workforce Initiative for Gender Equality and Equality between France, Women in Global Health and the WHO.

Recognition of the health sector has an important role to play in preventing and responding to gender-based violence against women and girls, and the WHO is committed to:

WHO will partner with Wellspring, the Ford Foundation, the UN for Women and the UK Government, to launch the Joint Advocacy Accelerator (Accelerator) to advocate for increased resources to prevent violence against women and girls. WHO will support the implementation of ILO Convention no. 190 on eliminating violence and harassment in the world of work, including by providing training to staff on the new internal policy, Preventing and resolving violent behavior.

The WHO has also committed to investing in a evidence base on sexual and reproductive health and rights, including the provision of comprehensive out-of-school sexuality education; improving access to quality and rights-based family planning in 14 middle-income countries ; supporting 25 countries in increasing access and contraception for adolescents; disseminating updated guidelines on safe abortion; and building knowledge among adolescents about their rights and ability to advocate for their needs.

Together with UNFPA and UNICEF, the WHO has committed itself to working to end harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and children, early and forced marriages. The health sector will be supported to stop the medicalization of female genital mutilation and provide it with assistance quality health services women and girls living with female genital mutilation and married girls.

At a high-level event focusing on the Workforce Initiative for Gender and Gender Equality, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated the WHO’s commitment to decent and safe working conditions for all health and health professionals, especially women. Several countries and organizations have announced their commitment to the four pillars of the Initiative: gender equality; equal pay; protection from sexual harassment and violence; decent and safe working conditions. The Workforce Initiative for Gender Equality will be convened again during the United Nations General Assembly in September 2021.

The WHO, together with other UN agencies, has expressed solidarity and support for feminist movements and human rights defenders, pledging to expand an open, secure and inclusive civic space for its work. This commitment is closely linked to the responsibilities of the UN Secretary-General Call for action for human rights and recently published UN Guidelines for the Promotion and Protection of Civic Space. Who will:

• Update your gender policy, strategy and map;
• Open special internship opportunities for people with a feminist leadership experience;
• Promote civil society participation in health systems, COVID-19 and recovery activities;
• Promote and encourage gender parity in WHO delegations, WHO panels and advisory groups; and
• Facilitate menstrual hygiene and promote awareness.

The WHO, as part of the Global Initiative for the Eradication of Polio, has also committed itself to supporting countries in addressing gender barriers to polio vaccination, collecting and analyzing gender-disaggregated data to ensure equal achievement for girls and boys, and increasing women’s participation and decision-making. -development at all levels of the program.

The WHO is committed to accelerating and stepping up its efforts to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. An organization-wide task force, led by a Director who reports to the Director-General, will bring together WHO accountability functions dealing with these issues within WHO field programs and operations. The aim is to increase policy coherence, address gaps and ensure that the implementation of policies and procedures has sufficient impact to protect women, their families and communities.

Priority will be given to how allegations and cases are managed and practical measures to how emergency and programmatic operations can more effectively protect people from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

The working team will work with partners in the field to empower communities to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. They will also prioritize engagement with UN systems, international partners and external experts to advance this important work. Some of the activities currently expanding include community awareness raising; engaging contact persons for the female and male communities to empower women to be vigilant and safe to use community grievance mechanisms; and measures to strengthen survivor-based services for women through the health system and the community.