Abstract
Stella Bakibinga, Elizabeth Bakibinga, John Daniel Ibembe, and Pauline Bakibinga reflect on mechanisms to narrow the gender employment and representation gap in global health in sub-Saharan Africa. They call for better laws, policies, and implementation to address inequity, improve mentoring and role modelling for younger women, remove institutional blocks, and have better access to resources and work to address harmful gender norms.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
African Development Bank Group. (2015). Gender equality index. Retrieved September 1, 2019, from https://www.afdb.org/en/topics-and-sectors/topics/quality-assurance-results/gender-equality-index
African Union (n.d.), Investing in people—education, science, technology and skills development. Retrieved September 20, 2019, from https://www.africa-eu-partnership.org/en/strategic-priority-areas/investing-people-education-science-technology-and-skills-development
Blankenship, J., & Kubicek, P. (2018). Democratization and gender equality in sub-Saharan Africa. The Journal of the Middle East and Africa, 9(1), 27–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/21520844.2018.1449458
Chutel, L. (2018) It will take 135 years to close the gender gap in sub-Saharan Africa. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from https://qz.com/africa/1503278/global-gender-gap-index-africas-gap-widens/
Commonwealth Secretariat. (2004). Commonwealth principles on the three branches of government, https://thecommonwealth.org/history-of-the-commonwealth/latimer-principles
Daly, A., Liou, Y.-H., & Bjorklund, P. (2018). Pay, position, and partnership: Exploring capital resources among a school district leadership team. Transformational Approaches in Teaching and Learning. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77237-0_8
DERC. (2018). Global education digest 2015–2017. Retrieved June 16, 2019, from https://angel-network.net/sites/default/files/Digest%202015%20-%2017%20online.pdf
Dhatt, R., Theobald, S., Buzuzi, S., Ros, B., Vong, S., Muraya, K., & Jackson, C. (2017). The role of women’s leadership and gender equity in leadership and health system strengthening. Global Health, Epidemiology and Genomics, 2, e8. https://doi.org/10.1017/gheg.2016.22
Dieleman, M., & Harnmeijer, J. W. (2006). Improving health worker performance: in search of promising practices. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from https://www.who.int/hrh/resources/improving_hw_performance.pdf
EAC. (2018). EAC launches gender policy. Retrieved September 1, 2019, from https://www.eac.int/press-releases/146-gender,-community-development-civil-society/1217-eac-launches-gender-policy
EAHRC. (n.d.). About EAHRC our team. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from https://www.eahealth.org/about-eahrc/our-team
Fenny, A. (2018). Raising African women leaders in global health. The Lancet, 392, 2662–2663. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32841-1
Fielden, S., Davidson, M., Gale, A., & Davey, C. (2001). Women, equality and construction. Journal of Management Development, 20(4), 293–305.
Gregorio, M. D. 2019. 3 challenges faced by female researchers in the developing world. Women in STEM talk about how international foundations and editorial boards can support gender equality. Retrieved from https://www.elsevier.com/connect/3-challenges-faced-by-female-researchers-in-the-developing-world
Haslegrave, M. (n.d.). The role of NGOs in promoting a gender approach to health care. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/role_ngo.htm
Hughes, C. (2017). Legislative wins, broken promises: Gaps in the implementation of laws on violence against women and girls. Retrieved September 1, 2019, from https://www-cdn.oxfam.org/s3fspublic/file_attachments/rr-legislative-wins-broken-promises-vawg-080317-summ-en.pdf
IAC. (n.d.). About IAC. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from https://iac-ciaf.net/about-iac/
ILO. (2017). ABC of women workers’ rights and gender equality. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/%2D%2D-dgreports/%2D%2D-gender/documents/publication/wcms_087314.pdf
International Science Programme. (n.d.). Gender equality activity. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from http://www.isp.uu.se/isp-alumni-network/
Ludwig, S., Dhatt, R., & Kickbusch, I. (2018). Women leaders in global health—The importance of gender equality in global health. European Journal of Public Health, 28(4). https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/cky218.020
Lusigi, A. (2018). Gender equality as the organizing lens for development planning. Retrieved July 1, 2019 from http://www.africa.undp.org/content/rba/en/home/blog/2018/gender-equality-is-so-much-more-than-a-goal-.html
Mcunu, N. (2018). Tradition and few chances are keeping black South African women out of science. Retrieved from https://qz.com/africa/1202388/tradition-and-few-chances-are-keeping-black-south-african-women-out-of-science/
Munjanja, O. K., Kibuka, S., & Dovlo, D. (2005). The nursing workforce in sub Saharan Africa. Geneva. Retrieved March 23, 2009, from http://www.icn.ch/global/Issue7SSA.pdf
Muthumbi, J., & Sommerfeld, J. (2015). Africa’s women in science. Retrieved June 09, 2019, from https://www.who.int/tdr/research/gender/Women_overview_piece.pdf
Mutume, G. (2005). African women battle for equality. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/july-2005/african-women-battle-equality
Newman, C., Chama, P. K., Mugisha, M., Matsiko, C. W., & Oketcho, V. (2017). Reasons behind current gender imbalances in senior global health roles and the practice and policy changes that can catalyze organizational change. Global Health, Epidemiology and Genomics, 2, e19. https://doi.org/10.1017/gheg.2017.11
OECD. (2004). Gender equality in West Africa. Retrieved September 1, 2019, from http://www.oecd.org/swac/topics/gender.htm
OECD. (2014). Social institutions & gender index 2014 synthesis report. Retrieved June 21, 2021, from https://www.oecd.org/dev/development-gender/BrochureSIGI2015-web.pdf
OECD. (2018). Gender equality in West Africa? The role of social norms. Retrieved June 16, 2019, from https://oecd-development-matters.org/2018/03/08/gender-equality-in-west-africa-the-key-role-of-social-norms/
Onsongo, J. (2009). Affirmative action, gender equity and university admissions—Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. London Review of Education, 7(1), 71–81.
Pappas, S. (2016). Male doctors, female nurses: Subconscious stereotypes hard to budge -06-20T21:56:51Z Human Nature. Also available at https://www.livescience.com/55134-subconcious-stereotypes-hard-to-budge
Project Girls for Girls. (n.d.). Project Girls for Girls-Empowering Women to Lead. https://www.projectg4g.org
Prozesky, H., & Mouton, J. (2019). A gender perspective on career challenges experienced by African scientists. South African Journal of Science, 115(3–4), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2019/5515
Qureshi, M. W. (2016). Women in science: Africa needs more role models. Retrieved from https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/women-science-africa-needs-more-role-models
RBM Partnership. (2019). Women leaders in global health conference 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019, from https://endmalaria.org/events/women-leaders-global-health-conference-2019
Roca, A., et al. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(18)30063-9/fulltext) .
SADC. (2012). SADC protocol on gender and development. Retrieved September 1, 2019 from https://www.sadc.int/issues/gender/
Sipalla, F. (2019). Workplace support for breastfeeding mothers at APHRC. Retrieved September 3, 2019, from https://aphrc.org/?p=10743).
Stephens, T., Spevak, R., Rogalin, C. L., & Hirshfield, L. E. (2016). Drawing doctors vs. nurses: Gendered perceptions of health professionals. Journal of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences, 19(1), 6. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/jiass/vol19/iss1/6
UN. (2015a). Transforming our world: Agenda 2030 for sustainable development. Retrieved June 16, 2019, from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld
UN. (2015b). Sustainable development goals. Retrieved September 1, 2019, from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300
UN Economic and Social Council. (2017). Progress towards the sustainable development goals: Report of the secretary-general (E/2017/66).
UNESCO. (2014). UNESCO priority gender equality action plan: 2014–2021. Retrieved June 20, 2019, from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000227222
Vogel, L. (2017). Celebrating more women leaders in global health. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal = Journal De L’Association Medicale Canadienne, 189(46), E1433–E1434.
WAHO. (2019). Director general. Retrieved June 16, 2019, from https://www.wahooas.org/web-ooas/en/a-propos/directeurs-generaux
WEF. (2018a). Global gender gap report 2018 sub-Saharan Africa. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2018/, http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2018.pdf
WEF. 2018b). Financial inclusion is key to tackling Africa’s gender inequality. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/07/financial-equality-for-africa-s-women-farmers
World Bank Group. (2014). Improving gender equality in Africa. Retrieved July 3, 2019, from https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/afr/brief/improving-gender-equality-in-africa
World Bank Group. (2018a). Women, business and the law 2018. World Bank. © World Bank. Retrieved from https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/29498. License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
World Bank Group. (2018b). Four African economies among most improved in removing legal barriers against women, says WBG report. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2018/03/29/four-african-economies-among-most-improved-in-removing-legal-barriers-against-women-says-wbg-report
World Bank Group. (2018c). World development report (WDR) 2018—Learning to realise education’s promise. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from www.worldbank.org
World Bank Group. Women, Business and The Law. (2019). A decade of reform. Retrieved from http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/702301554216687135/WBL-DECADE-OF-REFORM-2019-WEB-04-01.pdf
Zeinali, Z., Muraya, K., Govender, V., Molyneux, S., & Morgan, R. (2019). Intersectionality and global health leadership: Parity is not enough. Human Resources for Health, 17(1), 1–3.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bakibinga, S., Bakibinga, E., Ibembe, J.D., Bakibinga, P. (2022). Levelling the Terrain for Women in Global Health Leadership: A Case Study of Sub-Saharan Africa. In: Morgan, R., Hawkins, K., Dhatt, R., Manzoor, M., Bali, S., Overs, C. (eds) Women and Global Health Leadership. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84498-1_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84498-1_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-84497-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-84498-1
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)