The World Health Organization (WHO) was heartened by last year's IPU Kigali Declaration, when parliamentarians committed to stepping up our action for gender equality.
But we know there is a huge amount of work to be done: despite progress made on several aspects of women's health and rights, gender equality disparities remain. This hampers everyone's right to health.
Conflict and nationalistic policies tend to breed patriarchy and pronatalism, increased gender inequalities and lack of women's bodily autonomy.
Gender power relations and gender norms and stereotypes affect women's and men's exposure and vulnerability to certain health risks, their health-seeking behavior, their ability to access health services and the way that health systems respond to their needs.
The slow progress is an outcome of lack of political will and action, insufficient funding, restrictive laws and policies, harmful gender norms and health systems constraints, including insufficient integration of comprehensive sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health in national health benefit packages and primary health care.
Women and girls are disproportionally throughout their lives affected by water scarcity, climate change and conflicts, including through:
- additional barriers in access to sexual and reproductive health and health services
- inadequate hygiene and sanitation facilities, together with harmful gender norms and practices surrounding menstruation
- increased risk of abuse and gender-based violence (GBV)
- increased vulnerability to ill-health and death during pregnancy and childbirth, and for newborns
- barriers going to school, working and overall living in peace and dignity
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WHO has been established to advance the right of every human being, without distinction of any kind, to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health as well as social wellbeing. We recognize the power of partnership with parliamentarians, as we work to move scientific evidence into policy, based on common goals to advance gender equality and health for all.
We are committed to working with you to prioritize gender equality and the empowerment of women, human rights and equity, and to ensure a constant focus on leaving no one behind. We stand ready with the best science, evidence and guidance when developing legislation and when holding government to account on their promises to support evidence-based policy making for health and for gender equality.
Read more about WHO at the 146th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
