Moving Toward Gender Equitable Health Organizations
Sarah Johnson, Ummuro Adano and Willow Gerber
There have been significant investments in gender mainstreaming and training staff in health organizations to be “gender-sensitive” or to undertake “gender analysis.” However, these efforts to date have generally focused on changing attitudes and behavior of individual staff members, rather than changing the way the broader organization works. Change in the way health organizations address or remedy gender-based inequality has been minimal What’s needed is an organized approach that requires people to work together to create new ways of acting within organizational functions that will lead to gender equity.
With workforces ranging from five to 10 people to thousands of staff, local public sector institutions and NGOs delivering health services are not immune to the social differences between females and males learned throughout the life cycle and rooted in culture. Although change is occurring, hierarchical and patriarchal structures still exist; organizational culture is often more sensitive to men’s needs than women’s, work may be valued differently for women and men – either overtly or subliminally – and, at worst, flagrant gender discrimination as well as sexual harassment and abuse may exist. The net result is under appreciation and under utilization of women at different levels of the organization, which affects not only working women but also productivity and the delivery of health services.
Gender equity is not just an issue of human rights and justice; it is also a winning business formula. If women are to reach their full potential as health managers, leaders and workers, then health organizations and institutions must do more. Using existing organizational development frameworks and tools can help.
