Gender Equality Stock-Take into the WHO Regional Office for Africa’s Transformation Agenda: Progress and Opportunities

Abstract

The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO) is committed to mainstreaming gender equality in its systems and operations through its transformation agenda. This literature review discusses the steps that the WHO AFRO has taken to mainstream gender equality in its systems, programs, and activities, while highlighting successes and opportunities. A narrative literature review methodology was applied, whereby information relevant to the objective was synthesized from 28 publications that were retrieved after searching keywords combined using Boolean operators in WHO AFRO, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Google search engines. WHO AFRO’s Department of Gender, Women, and Health addresses gender issues. A Gender, Equity, and Rights unit in the WHO AFRO ensures gender considerations in institutional processes and health programs in both regional and country offices in the commitment to “leave no one behind.” It aligns with Sustainable Development Goals 3, 5, and 8 since it extracts gender policies from international statutory instruments and initiatives. The WHO’s gender and parity policies guide the WHO AFRO in gender mainstreaming. WHO AFRO’s initiatives and mechanisms prioritize female representation and present gender considerations and equity as values of human resources for health policies. Its zero tolerance to sexual harassment and an anonymous reporting system for sexual abuse or exploitation, as well as protection from retaliation and assistance, protects against gender-based harassment by WHO workers. The mandatory shortlisting of at least one qualified female in all recruitments in the WHO AFRO, as stipulated in the transformation agenda, creates room for gender balance in the workforce. Mandatory training, advocacy, and projects on the prevention and response to sexual abuse, inclusion, and diversity also constitute the WHO AFRO’s efforts in gender mainstreaming. Empowerment programs have also been initiated for female leaders. The finalization of the WHO AFRO gender policy and the development of its sexual harassment policy will further steer gender mainstreaming toward achieving gender equality and inclusion in the health sector.