Speakers Shirin Heidari, Anna Ruggieri, Catherine Nyambura, Ricardo Baruch, and Stephen Burrell participated in a webinar hosted by GENDRO in collaboration with the Think Tank Hub, Geneva. The webinar aimed to explore the COVID-19 crisis from a unique perspective by examining the role of sex and gender data in pandemics.
During the discussion, the speakers emphasized the issues and gaps apparent in gender-inclusive data collection and research amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. They highlighted the necessity of making gender more visible in pandemic responses and stressed the importance of learning from past experiences to adopt a more inclusive approach towards all communities.
Speakers Aurelia Nguyen, Clara Mathieu Gotch, Lucica Ditiu, Marijka Wijnroks, Sanne Wendes, and Shirin Heidari participated in a panel discussion titled “Women in power: Challenging gender inequality in Global Health and beyond: A conversation with female leaders,” organized by GENDRO to commemorate International Women’s Day 2020. The event took place at the Global Health Campus and was also live-streamed.
During the discussion, the panelists highlighted various aspects where gender equality gaps persist and emphasized the importance of pushing forward to achieve recognition and acceptance in society. They underscored the need for concerted efforts to address gender inequality in the field of global health and beyond.
On the occasion of World Health Day 2019, on 9 April 2019, GENDRO was officially launched during this event. The event was organized in collaboration with the Global Health Centre and the Gender Centre of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the World Health Organization, and with the generous support of Geneva Think Tank Hub and Foraus.
Dr Shirin Heidari, GENDRO’s President together with Dr Veronica Magar from WHO, Gender, Equity and Rights Unit opened the session. Thereafter, Ms Anuradha Gupta, Deputy CEO of GAVI, Dr Carole Presern, Head of the Office of Board Affairs at The Global Fund, Dr Avni Amin, Department of Reproductive Health and Research, WHO and Ms Francelina Romao, Health Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Mozambique to the United Nations Office at Geneva joined the panel on “Generating evidence and translating to practice” moderated by Dr Claire Somerville, Executive Director, Gender Centre, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. The speakers presented their experiences and ongoing efforts, as well as their commitment to gender mainstreaming in health data and research as instrumental to addressing gender-related programmatic barriers.
At the closing, GENDRO’s president, Dr Shirin Heidari, announced the launch of GENDRO’s Gender, Evidence and Health Network, as a think tank dedicated to convene actors in Geneva and facilitate joint actions toward improving integration of sex and gender in health research and data analysis.
To commemorate International Women’s Day, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) hosted the IARC International Women’s Day Symposium 2019, dedicated to celebrating women’s contributions to science and supporting their role in the field.
During the symposium, nine leading female scientists shared insights into their experiences, reflecting on the evolution of their careers and the institutional as well as personal factors that have influenced them along the way. The symposium provided a platform to highlight the achievements and challenges faced by women in the scientific community, aiming to inspire and empower future generations of women scientists.
A presentation at the HIV and the body provided evidence on the range of established biological and socio-economic differences that result in differential risks and health outcomes, encouraging a more systematic attention to sex and gender differences in HIV clinical research and practice.
