DATE / TIME:

2019•10•08    11:00 - 13:00

Location:

Kuala Lumpur

Gender equality and women’s empowerment are inextricably linked to health, as are any actions towards accelerating universal health coverage (UHC). However, solid and rigorous evidence is critical to demonstrating what strategies are effective, in order to inform policy, and programmatic interventions for gender equality and positive health outcomes. At the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH), one of our core functions and strategic priorities is the generation of policy-relevant analyses to decrease gender disparities in health.

On October 8, UNU-IIGH will convene a seminar involving researchers, policy-makers as well as gender and health advocates, with the purpose of stimulating a conversation on what we know has worked (and what has not worked) in gender and health, with a specific focus on addressing sexual and reproductive health and rights in the context of UHC, and how we can rethink the prevention of violence against women and girls.

If you are unable to join us physically, you may join the seminar via teleconference at this link: https://zoom.us/j/198208429 . The video will be uploaded later at the UNU-IIGH YouTube channel, so please subscribe for updates.

Objectives

The Gender and Health Seminars are an opportunity to bridge the knowledge-to-action gap, by convening key stakeholders to share, discuss and exchange evidence, strategies and actions to reduce gender-based inequities in health.

Sexual and reproductive health in universal health coverage: A review of recent evidence by Prof. TK Sundari Ravindran

Target 3.7 of the Sustainable Development Goal 3 on health reaffirms the ICPD commitment to universal access to sexual and reproductive health services, extending the deadline for its achievement from 2015 to 2013. But rather than being a stand-alone commitment as in ICPD, universal access to SRH services in SDGs stands alongside Target 3.8, of achieving universal health coverage.

While mutually reinforcing nature of Targets 3.7 and 3.8 is widely acknowledged, SRH services have not always been on the agenda when global and national-level discussions and decisions are made on financing healthcare and setting priorities.

This seminar will present key findings from a review of recent evidence on the extent to which sexual and reproductive health services have been prioritised in global and national plans for UHC. It will also discuss the impact of UHC-related health system reforms on universal access to sexual and reproductive health services.

Re-thinking the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls by James Lang

Why do 1 and 3 women around the world still suffer violence from men?  What progress has been made over the years in addressing violence against women and girls, and what more needs to be done?

This discussion will examine how gender violence prevention operates within the international aid and global public health fields and will explore what is working and what can be done differently for longer term impact. We will discuss achievements of the prevention field to date, outline challenges and biases that are constraining its progress and recommend ways forward to overcome these challenges.

Programme flyer: Gender and Health Seminar Series