The United Nations University International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH) is excited to invite you to the Gender and Health Hub Annual Forum from 7 to 9 December 2021.
The Gender and Health Hub Annual Forum brings together our growing global network of policymakers, researchers, practitioners and thought leaders to reflect on the progress made in the last year and set priorities for the coming year as a community. Join us as we spotlight collaborative projects, policies, and partnerships for a feminist transformation of the health sector with 4 sessions and 30 speakers over 3 daysin partnership with UN Women, Gender Equality Working Group of the SDG3 GAP, University of Western Cape (UWC), The African Union Commission (AUC), BBC Media Action, University of Cape Town (UCT).
The UNU Gender and Health Hub (GHH) was established with the aim to bridge the gap between people, evidence, policy, and action and contribute to more evidence-based and better-resourced integration of gender in health policies and programmes.
Launched at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (UN CSW) in March 2021, GHH has focused on convening technical expertise with political leadership and consolidating evidence-based solutions to encourage concrete commitments to turn the COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity for gender equality in health.
Over the next year, GHH will continue to develop and engage its growing global network of policymakers, researchers, practitioners and thought leaders with the aim to build on efforts to improve the evidence base on what has worked in the past and translate that evidence and practice-based learning into collective action and concrete commitments for the future.
Building a sense of Hub community and spotlighting key knowledge products and partnerships
Stock-taking and priority-setting with existing partners on what has worked within the Hub
Creating a new constituency of actors that can take action (collectively and individually) on core topics
Spotlight innovative solutions and exchanges of promising practices between key actors operating nationally, regionally and globally
Explore opportunities for action and resource mobilisation to influence the global processes in 2022. Discuss concrete steps, gaps and recommendations on key priorities
Background
The UNU Gender and Health Hub (GHH) was established with the aim to bridge the gap between people, evidence, policy, and action and contribute to more evidence-based and better-resourced integration of gender in health policies and programmes.
In 2021, GHH focused on convening technical expertise with political leadership and consolidating evidence-based solutions to encourage concrete commitments to turn the COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity for gender equality in health.
Over the next year, GHH will continue to develop and engage its growing global network of policymakers, researchers, practitioners and thought leaders with the aim to improve the evidence base on what has worked in the past and translate that evidence and practice-based learning into collective action and concrete commitments for the future.
Objectives
Our intention is to look back at efforts to date and look forward as a community. We hope that these three days of focused dialogue culminate in a better-connected community where knowledge and learnings are shared, partnerships are forged and grown, and coordinated action is paramount.
Report launch | “What Works in Gender and Health in the UN: Lessons Learnt from Successful Case Studies of Gender Integration Across Five UN Agencies”
The United Nations University International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH), in collaboration with five UN agencies with a health mandate, completed a major project identifying what works, where, for whom, why and how across a series of successful agency-specific case studies of gender mainstreaming in health.
In Africa, like in other regions globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on communities not only in terms of health, but also economically and socially. As COVID-19 response efforts continue and work begins on recovery and building back better, opportunities arise to ensure gender equality and women’s rights remain at the centre of these efforts. This session invites key stakeholders and leaders in the region to jointly form a collaborative platform focusing on identifying research priorities and best practices related to gender equality in the public health response to COVID-19 and beyond.
The Gender and Digital Health Webinar Series is a platform to foster new partnerships and co-create knowledge on the gendered dimensions of digital technologies for health, with a focus on translation of evidence to policy and practice- based learning in low- and middle-income countries. Co- organised by a consortium between UNU IIGH, The University of Cape Town, and BBC Media Action, the series featured 40 speakers on 10 topics and was attended by about 2500 participants in 2021. This session celebrates the series, launches the Gender and Digital Health Policy Brief Series, and looks ahead at new partnerships and research directions in 202
Launch Event | A shared Gender & COVID-19 Research Agenda
The Gender and Health Hub at UNU-IIGH and the School of Public Health at the University of the Western Cape co- convened a collaborative Gender and COVID-19 research agenda-setting exercise in 2021.
This session launches the consolidated output which is a shared, policy-relevant and people-centred research agenda for funders, researchers, civil society, programme implementers, and policy-makers to guide the application of a gender lens to COVID-19 research investments and subsequently policy and programming actions.