Lisa Avery

Healthcare work has long been disproportionately shouldered by women, both professionally and privately in less formal settings. Globally, the pandemic and its response measures have put an increased care demand and pressure on women health workers not only as first responders at work but also in their homes and communities. The situation was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and remains a challenge as we transit out of the pandemic.

Care work, paid and unpaid, remains undervalued and is mainly considered the responsibility of women. Nonetheless, it is the backbone of the economic, social and health wellbeing of families and communities.

Globally, 70% of the health workforce is comprised of women. Evidence shows that health systems are insufficiently responsive to women’s specific health needs and yet are highly dependent on them as providers of care.

Female health workers face multiple challenges as they seek to improve and sustain their mental and physical health and socioeconomic wellbeing. This interactive panel discussion brings together a diverse group of global health actors to describe insights from their research and share experiences about creating more equality for women in healthcare and thus improve health systems. The dialogue will explore the complex interlinkages among gender, power relations, women’s health, and care work.

This session is organized by the Women RISE Initiative, a partnership between Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).