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Thematic Working Groups (TWGs)
Gender and Health Systems
Group overview
The TWG aims to embed gender-responsive approaches into Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR), strengthening advocacy and capacity-building. Guided by the principles of intersectionality and equity-driven approaches, this TWG will ensure that HPSR approaches are inclusive and responsive to the needs of all individuals, regardless of gender. By addressing the entrenched gender inequalities in health systems governance, workforce, data, financing, and service delivery, this TWG will establish a dynamic and collaborative platform for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to address gender and health inequalities. The objective of this TWG is to integrate a gender lens into health policy and systems research.
- Advocating for Gender Equality in Health Systems and Policy: The TWG is dedicated to identifying and dismantling gender-based barriers within health systems and advocating for mainstreaming gender in HPSR. The TWG will play an active role in influencing global and national health policies by championing gender-responsive frameworks. By advocating for policies that eliminate gendered barriers to care, ensure equitable access to health services, address the systemic underrepresentation of women and gender minorities in health leadership and decision-making, and prioritize the needs of historically underserved populations, the TWG aims to showcase the critical importance of mainstreaming gender in health policies. It will also work to identify opportunities to embed gender-responsive approaches within HSR and its other TWGs.
- Strengthening Gender-Responsive Health Systems Research and its Application: By facilitating evidence synthesis, the TWG will strengthen research that explores the role of gender as a social determinant of health. This includes exposing critical gaps in existing research, promoting the collection of gender-disaggregated data, and embedding gender considerations into health systems frameworks to drive more inclusive and impactful interventions. In addition to this, the TWG aims to equip its constituency and their respective stakeholders (e.g., health systems actors, policymakers, healthcare providers, civil society organizations, and others) with the latest evidence and tools to design, implement, and advocate for gender-responsive health systems and services.
- Fostering Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing: The TWG will serve as a collaborative and dynamic platform to bring together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and advocates to share best practices, exchange knowledge, co-create solutions, and amplify collective efforts in advancing the gender equity agenda in global health. The TWG will drive meaningful progress toward more inclusive and just health systems through strategic partnerships, community building, and cross-sectoral engagement.
Merette Khalil
Co-chair
Anna Kalbarczyk
Co-chair
Pratishtha Singh
Operations lead
Venus Mushininga
Communications lead
Kate Hawkins
Steering committee member
Shubha Nagesh
Steering committee member
Zahra Zeinali
Steering committee member
Mark Donald C. Reñosa
Steering committee member
Zaida Orth
Steering committee member
Christiane Hagel
Steering committee member
We use the World Health Organization’s Definition of Gender
Gender refers to the characteristics of women, men, girls, and boys that are socially constructed. This includes the norms, behaviours, and roles associated with being a woman, man, girl, or boy, as well as relationships with each other. As a social construct, gender varies across societies and can change over time.
Gender is hierarchical and produces inequalities that intersect with other social and economic inequalities. Gender-based discrimination intersects with other forms of discrimination, including those based on ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, age, geographic location, gender identity, and sexual orientation, among others. This is referred to as intersectionality.
Gender interacts with, but is distinct from, sex, which refers to the biological and physiological characteristics of females, males, and intersex persons, such as chromosomes, hormones, and reproductive organs. Gender is also distinct from gender identity, which refers to a person’s deeply felt, internal, and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond to their physiology or sex assigned at birth.
At HSG we support an inclusive approach for all regarding access to health systems.
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