Gender, women and health

Gender, Women and Health

Strengthening capacity to address harmful health effects of gender

Over the past five years, WHO's Gender, Women and Health Network has been piloting and developing practical capacity building materials to assist in the progressive mainstreaming of gender considerations in health sector activities. The Gender Mainstreaming Manual for Health Managers: a practical approach serves as the core capacity building manual, with a range of tools available to support national teams to identify and address gender and health inequities. Tools and strategies fit within the overall framework of the WHO Gender Strategy.

Capacity building is a core gender mainstreaming activity

WHO report

Women and health: today's evidence tomorrow's agenda

WHO/J.Hoffman

Despite progress, societies continue to fail women at key times of their lives

No one should be sick or die because of gender inequality

Women and men differ in terms of biological make-up, power, status, norms and roles in society. WHO Member States and international agreements stress that these differences must be acknowledged, analysed and addressed through gender analysis and actions.

Without due attention to gender equality, health services, programmes, laws and policies will have limited effects. Women and men will not achieve their full health potential over the life-course. Furthermore, without achieving Millennium Development Goal 3 - gender equality and empowerment of women - the other MDGs will not be met by 2015.

Advancing the field of gender, women and health

The goal of the WHO Department of Gender, Women and Health is to create, sustain and support evidence-based policies and programmes in WHO and Member States with partners to achieve gender equality, health equity and improve women's health. It does so by providing leadership in advancing the field of gender, women and health based on the principles of gender equality and health equity.

Highlights

Events