TY - JOUR
T1 - Political challenges to prioritizing gender in global health organisations
AU - Shawar, Yusra Ribhi
AU - Shiffman, Jeremy
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This study was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation through grants to Stanford University. Authorship contributions: YRS and JS developed the research idea and design. YRS undertook the interviews, did the literature review, analyzed the data, and wrote the draft with support from JS. JS contributed to data analysis and drafting of the manuscript. All authors have seen and approved the final version of this manuscript for publication. Competing interests: The authors completed the Unified Competing Interest form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf (available upon request from the corresponding author), and declare no conflicts of interest.
Funding Information:
The study protocol underwent ethics review and was approved by the Institutional Review Board of American University (Washington, DC, USA). The authors thank the funders for their support, as well as the key informants for their time and insights. The study constitutes independent research and the findings do not necessarily reflect the perspectives of the funders. The authors take full responsibility for all errors. This study was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation through grants to Stanford University.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s).
PY - 2020/6/1
Y1 - 2020/6/1
N2 - Background Many global health organisations have adopted formal strategies to integrate gender in their programming. In practice, few prioritise the issue. Institutions with considerable global power therefore largely overlook fundamental drivers of adverse health outcomes: gender inequality and harmful gender norms. We analyse the factors shaping attention to gender in organisations involved in global health governance. Methods Drawing on scholarship from the fields of organisational behavior and management, sociology, international relations and the policy process, we undertook a thematic analysis of peer-reviewed scholarship and organisational documents. We also conducted 20 semi-structured interviews over Skype with individuals working at the cross-section of gender and health. Results In seeking to reform the policies and practices of global health organisations, gender proponents confront patriarchal organisational cultures, hostile political environments and an issue that is difficult to address as it requires upsetting existing power structures. Proponents also face three linked challenges internal to their own networks. First, there is little cohesion among champions themselves, as they are fragmented into multiple networks. Second, proponents differ on the nature of the problem and solutions, including whether reducing gender inequality or addressing harmful gender norms is the primary goal, the role of men in gender initiatives, which health issues to prioritise, and even the value of proponent cohesion. Third, there are disagreements among proponents on how to convey the problem. Some advance an instrumental case, while others believe that it should be portrayed as a human rights issue and using any other argument undermines that fundamental justification. Conclusions Prospects for building more gender-responsive global health organisations will depend in part on the ability of proponents to address these disagreements and develop strategies for negotiating difficult organisational cultures and political environments.
AB - Background Many global health organisations have adopted formal strategies to integrate gender in their programming. In practice, few prioritise the issue. Institutions with considerable global power therefore largely overlook fundamental drivers of adverse health outcomes: gender inequality and harmful gender norms. We analyse the factors shaping attention to gender in organisations involved in global health governance. Methods Drawing on scholarship from the fields of organisational behavior and management, sociology, international relations and the policy process, we undertook a thematic analysis of peer-reviewed scholarship and organisational documents. We also conducted 20 semi-structured interviews over Skype with individuals working at the cross-section of gender and health. Results In seeking to reform the policies and practices of global health organisations, gender proponents confront patriarchal organisational cultures, hostile political environments and an issue that is difficult to address as it requires upsetting existing power structures. Proponents also face three linked challenges internal to their own networks. First, there is little cohesion among champions themselves, as they are fragmented into multiple networks. Second, proponents differ on the nature of the problem and solutions, including whether reducing gender inequality or addressing harmful gender norms is the primary goal, the role of men in gender initiatives, which health issues to prioritise, and even the value of proponent cohesion. Third, there are disagreements among proponents on how to convey the problem. Some advance an instrumental case, while others believe that it should be portrayed as a human rights issue and using any other argument undermines that fundamental justification. Conclusions Prospects for building more gender-responsive global health organisations will depend in part on the ability of proponents to address these disagreements and develop strategies for negotiating difficult organisational cultures and political environments.
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U2 - 10.7189/jogh.10.010702
DO - 10.7189/jogh.10.010702
M3 - Article
C2 - 32257162
AN - SCOPUS:85083023036
SN - 2047-2978
VL - 10
JO - Journal of global health
JF - Journal of global health
IS - 1
M1 - 010702
ER -