Achieving gender equality requires bold action from strong leaders, and we have seen such leadership in 2017 from Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in his first six months as director-general of the World Health Organization.

Yes, we are honoring a man. But without buy-in from men, we will never achieve gender equality. And, in our humble opinion, this is an extraordinary man. It takes grit and determination to translate a campaign pledge into real change. Change is hard, and we know some may criticize Tedros and his approach. He is challenging deep-rooted, century-old power structures. We celebrate the transformational change happening at the World Health Organization.

Despite setting a target of achieving 50 percent gender equity in 1997, WHO has not lived up to that goal. Two decades later, only 28 percent of the directors were women. But this picture is quickly improving. Tedros appointed nine women in October to the senior management team. For the first time in WHO history, women outnumber men in the senior leadership team. In December, Tedros added seven women at the director level.

Read the full article about WHO's efforts at gender equality at Devex International Development.