PUBLIC HEALTH LEADERS DISCUSS STEPS NEEDED TO EMPOWER WOMEN Written by Barbara Gutierrez Published on March 25, 2021 Category: Faculty, Event
During a virtual dialogue held Thursday, panelists of the “Leading Women in Global Health: Equity and Health” forum focused on how the ongoing pandemic has impacted women in Latin America. What are the challenges and opportunities that women in Latin America face during and after the pandemic? How can those societies change to address some of the pressing issues that affect women in particular? These are some of the topics that were explored by an esteemed panel in the virtual seminar “Leading Women in Global Health: Equity and Health,” hosted by the University of Miami Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas on Thursday. Part of an ongoing series called Latin American Women in Global Health, it was sponsored by the University of Miami, the Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas, Tomatelo a Pecho, Women in Global Health, and Fundacion Mexicana para La Salud. Felicia Knaul, an international health economist and director of the institute, welcomed the participants by pointing out that they are untiring defenders of women’s health who
would impart their knowledge and experience on gender leadership and gender health inequities with a particular focus on the effects of the pandemic. Gabriela Ramos, assistant director general for social and human services of UNESCO, opened the session. She shared that when the Generation Equality Forum meets in Mexico next week, the pandemic will be a major topic. “This pandemic has sent us back years,” she said. “It has set us back in life expectancy, it has set us back in how children learn, and it has set us back in poverty. There are 130 million more poor people in the world and the clock keeps ticking.” “Esta pandemia tiene cara de mujer” (this pandemic has a woman’s face), Ramos said. Because women have borne the heaviest burdens in health, in the economy, and having to deal with the highest cost of schooling children at home, she stated. In addition, many women have had to face the increase of domestic violence during the pandemic, she said. “It is really troubling, and we must put the
theme of health as a top theme in the forum.” Ramos also said that the issue of helping women achieve leadership positions within the business and public work sectors was also important. “The fact is that when you have women in positions of power, you have diversity, you look at things differently,” she said. “Decisions are better made when women are added to positions of power.” Knaul said that the violence against women and girls was a pandemic that would continue unless there was a focus on developing public awareness, changes in norms and behaviors, and the enlisting of leaders—including men—willing to defend the rights of women. One out of every three women in the world is affected by domestic violence, according to the World Health Organization, she said. “The cost of not acting is enormous,” said Knaul, who is co-chair of the Lancet Commission on Gender-based Violence and Maltreatment of Young People.
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