Giving Compass' Take:
- A study shows that in 200 global health organizations, men hold 70 percent of the leadership positions, an alarming disparity that could impact how organizations approach women's health issues.
- There are even fewer women leaders in lower-to-middle income countries. What are the implications of this disparity for these countries?
- Learn more about women's health in the U.S. and abroad.
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Men hold over 70% of the leadership positions in 200 global health organizations, a disparity that reflects overwhelming gender inequality worldwide, according to a new report from Global Health 50/50.
The report urges health organizations to recruit, hire, and promote women to achieve gender parity. At the current rate of change, however, gender parity will not be achieved at the senior management level until 2074, the organization said.
This inequality can affect how organizations approach women’s health issues, the report said.
“A lot of the programmes we’ve looked at, they’re not looking at women’s health in general, they’re looking at women’s reproduction,” Sarah Hawkes, a Professor of Global Public Health at University College London and Co-Director of Global Health 50/50, told the Guardian.
The institutions studied also have regional and economic disparities. More than 80% of the leaders from these 200 organizations come from high-income countries, and only 5% of the leaders are women from low- and middle-income countries. Two-thirds of these organizations are based in one of three wealthy countries: the UK, US, and Switzerland. Meanwhile, 85% of these organizations are based in Europe and North America.
However, many of these organizations do work in low- and middle-income countries.
Read the full article about women global leaders by Brandon Wiggins at Global Citizen.