Background While an estimated 70%–75% of the
health workforce are women, this is not reflected in
the leadership roles of most health organisations—
including global decision-making
bodies such as the
World Health Assembly (WHA).
Methods We analysed gender representation in WHA
delegations of Member States, Associate Members and
Observers (country/territory), using data from 10 944
WHA delegations and 75 815 delegation members over
1948–2021. Delegates’ information was extracted from
WHO documentation. Likely gender was inferred based
on prefixes, pronouns and other gendered language.
A gender-to-
name
algorithm was used as a last resort
(4.6%). Time series of 5-year
rolling averages of the
percentage of women across WHO region, income group
and delegate roles are presented. We estimated (%)
change ±SE of inferred women delegation members at
the WHA per year, and estimated years±SE until gender
parity from 2010 to 2019 across regions, income
groups, delegate roles and countries. Correlations
with these measures were assessed with countries’
gender inequality index and two Worldwide Governance
indicators.
Results While upwards trends could be observed in
the percentage of women delegates over the past 74
years, men remained over-represented
in most WHA
delegations. Over 1948–2021, 82.9% of delegations
were composed of a majority of men, and no WHA had
more than 30% of women Chief Delegates (ranging
from 0% to 30%). Wide variation in trends over time
could be observed across different geographical
regions, income groups and countries. Some countries
may take over 100 years to reach gender parity in their
WHA delegations, if current estimated trends continue.
Conclusion Despite commitments to gender equality in
leadership, women remain gravely under-represented
in global health governance. An intersectional approach
to representation in global health governance, which
prioritises equity in participation beyond gender,
can enable transformative policymaking that fosters
transparent, accountable and just health systems.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:87732 |
| Date | 27 October 2023 |
| Creators | van Daalen, Kim Robin, Chowdhury, Maisoon, Dada, Sara, Khorsand, Parnian, El-Gamal, Salma, Kaidarova, Galiya, Jung, Laura, Othman, Razan, O'Leary, Charlotte Anne, Ashworth, Henry Charles, Socha, Anna, Olaniyan, Dolapo, Azeezat, Fajembola Temilade, Abouhala, Siwaar, Abdulkareem, Toyyib, Dhatt, Roopa, Rajan, Dheepa |
| Publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | e009312, 10.1136/bmjgh-2022-009312 |
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