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PMNCH, the world’s largest alliance advocating for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health, is proud to have been recognized as a consistently high-performing organization in the latest annual report from Global Health 50/50, Boards For All: A review of power, policy and people on the boards of organizations active in global health. In its fifth year, the 2022 report took an in-depth look at the board composition and gender equality of 146 of the most influential global health organizations, headquartered in 37 countries which includes 1,946 individuals holding 2,014 board seats.
The 2022 report released on 30 March lists PMNCH as one of 37 high performers of the sample overall, which includes UN organizations, governmental agencies, international NGOs, research organizations, private sector companies and others. PMNCH scored high in areas including organizational public commitment to gender equality; workplace gender equality; diversity and inclusion policies; gender parity in senior management and governing bodies; gender responsiveness of global health programmes and gender of organizational head and board chair.
The report also found that gender and geographic diversity are severely lacking on the boards of major organizations active in global health, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In fact, in low-income countries, women hold less than 1% of board member positions. Board members of these influential global organizations have a vast amount of power and responsibility in making decisions on leadership, strategy, finance, and programming that influence the health outcomes of billions of people around the world. As such, it is imperative that boards are gender inclusive and welcome the most relevant perspectives, experiences and expertise in the room. Women are at the frontline of health care delivery making up 70% of the global health workforce and as such their views and experiences are critical for meaningful action. Moreover, when in decision making-roles, women do better to ensure better health for all. During the Covid-19 pandemic, female-led countries locked down early and suffered half as many COVID-19 deaths on average as male leaders.
PMNCH’s Call to Action on COVID-19, issued in 2020, highlights the importance of committing to gender equality in the context of the pandemic. The Call to Action’s 7-point agenda calls on all partners to combat the pandemic’s devastating direct and indirect effects, including through expanding access to sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health services. “Partners must pull together in supporting governments to prioritize women, children and adolescents in COVID national responses,” said Helga Fogstad, Executive Director of PMNCH. "We need more financial, policy and service delivery commitments that apply a gender lens."
Reflecting on these findings, Global Health 50/50 co-director Professor Kent Buse said, "We are alarmed by the lack of progress on democratizing global health. The collective failure to deliver equality in global health outcomes is inextricably linked to a failure to ensure equality in voice, representation and inclusion at the top. This report is a call to the barricades. Or more specifically, a call to the boardroom – the Global Health Boardroom."
PMNCH is committed to advocating for gender equality and looks forward to supporting the dissemination of the findings from the transformative report.