International Women’s Day: PAHO Director calls for investment in women’s leadership to transform the health sector – PAHO/WHO

Washington, DC, March 8, 2024 (PAHO) – Although women represent 70% of workers in the health and care sector worldwide, only 25% occupy leadership positions. At an event to mark International Women’s Day, the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Jarbas Barbosa, called for greater support for women’s leadership and at the same time strengthen the health workforce, especially following the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. .

“We cannot achieve universal health nor achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) without health equity and gender equality in the health sector,” said Dr. Barbosa during the High Level Dialogue “Women’s Leadership in Health.” Regional Health and Resilience Agenda”. organized by the Inter-American Working Group on Women’s Leadership with the support of the Government of Canada and under the coordination of the Inter-American Commission of Women of the Organization of American States (CIM/OAS).

During his speech at the OAS headquarters, the PAHO Director highlighted the barriers that health workers face, which impact not only their economic and social well-being but also their communities. Dr. Barbosa called for greater representation of women in decision-making spaces and emphasized the importance of listening to their voices. «We must build more equitable, gender-equal, resilient and sustainable societies,» which means «investing in women and their leadership,» she stressed.

TO World Health Organization (WHO) Gender and Equity Analysis of the Global Health and Social Work Workforce reveals that leadership disparities between men and women are the result of stereotypes, discrimination, power imbalance, and privilege. Furthermore, women’s disadvantages are multiplied when combined with factors such as race and class. In the healthcare sector, women occupy lower positions and receive lower salaries compared to men. This wage gap, at 26%, is greater than in other sectors.

PAHO is one of ten United Nations organizations where women make up more than 50% of the workforce. Furthermore, equity and gender equality are fundamental values ​​of the Organization, integrated into all policies, programs and technical cooperation work.

“At PAHO, we are committed to investing in women and firmly believe that incorporating the voices and perspectives of women and girls in decision-making is essential to building resilient health systems and will have a positive impact on health and well-being.” development,” said the Director of PAHO.

The Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, highlighted the Organization’s historical commitment to gender equality, manifested in its conventions and the Inter-American Democratic Charter. He also highlighted the pioneering role of the OAS in promoting gender equality in the Americas over the last almost 100 years through the Inter-American Commission of Women. The Secretary General also mentioned the regulatory framework built by the OAS on women’s rights, which has contributed to reflecting on various issues such as parity in electoral processes and greater representation of women in positions of power.

Despite these advances, Luis Almagro recognized that gender inequalities persist in several areas, including the right to health, which was particularly evident during the pandemic. For this reason, he highlighted the need to “adopt transformative approaches” to modify “the social structures and norms that perpetuate gender discrimination.”

Dr. Rhonda Sealey-Thomas, PAHO Deputy Director, spoke during a panel on Women’s Participation and Leadership in the Regional Health Agenda: Opportunities and Challenges. During the panel, she emphasized the Organization’s commitment to increasing the representation of women in leadership positions at PAHO and ensuring that women in the region can lead productive lives and reach their full potential.

For Dr. Sealey-Thomas, the Health Workforce Policy 2030 is crucial to seeking to incorporate a gender perspective into labor policies in the health sector. Regarding access to women’s health services, the Deputy Director mentioned PAHO’s work to eliminate cervical cancer and emphasized the importance of improving access to HPV testing and vaccination. “Through PAHO, countries can improve access to essential tools that can save women’s lives and give them the opportunity to live productive lives and assume leadership positions,” she said.

The event was also attended by Alejandra Mora Mora, Executive Secretary of the CIM/OAS; Roopa Dhatt, executive director of Women in Global Health, and Christine Harmston, director general of the Office of International Affairs of the Public Health Agency Health Portfolio of Canada, as well as other regional authorities and representatives of the health sector.

The Inter-American Working Group on Women’s Leadership is a platform composed of twelve international organizations committed to promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women through greater cooperation and synergies between institutions. The members of the Working Group are: CIM/OAS, IACHR, ECLAC, PAHO/WHO, ParlAmericas, UNDP, UN Women, Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), International IDEA, CIWiL and CLADEM .