I’ve been researching gender & global health for a really long time & thus very pleased to see world leaders such as @MelindaGates bring attention to this issue in her @ForeignAffairs article BUT… 1/7

#Globalhealth still has a really long way to go if we’re still justifying women’s lives in terms of how much they contribute to the world economy 2/7

I’ve read the BMGF Women and Girls Empowerment Model and it captures structural drivers, intersectionality, and agency and even has a bell hooks quote (how hooks work fits with the work of a major capitalist philanthropist is a discussion for next time).. BUT 3/7

It is vital leaders practice what they preach – all @gatesfoundation Division Leaders are men; Only 2/11 of the Health Strategy Directors are women 4/7

I also looked at every Health and Development Strategy of the Foundation, and despite claiming women and gender cut across their work, they are hard to find in the strategy challenges/opportunities breakdowns (but easy to find in the pictures) 5/7

One way of boosting gender equality in global health, is citing work of gender specialists in global health. V little in MG’s piece. Minor grumble for me as Prof – but lots of ppl working in this space are early/mid career and citations are equality 6/7

COVID-19 is definitely becoming an opportunity for change (as I’ve said before because rich women in the north came to experience the shitty gendered impacts of outbreaks) on global health’s gender issue. We can all do better (me included): practice what you preach. 7/7