Jhpiego, a nurse-led nonprofit global health leader and Johns Hopkins University affiliate, has achieved high honors for prioritizing workplace gender equality, according to an annual analysis by Global Health 50/50, an independent research initiative at the University College London Centre for Gender and Global Health.
Power, Privilege and Priorities, which reviews the gender-related policies and practices of 200 organizations active in the global health sector, rates Jhpiego a “high scorer,” ranking it in the top 20 percent of organizations, headquartered in 33 countries across seven regions and which, together, employ some 4.5 million people.
“As Jhpiego strives to ensure access to lifesaving health care for all people, whoever they are and wherever they live, equity and diversity are at the core of our mission—and at the heart of our leadership and policies,” says Jhpiego President and CEO Leslie Mancuso, PhD, RN, FAAN.
The 2020 report, released March 9, compares and contrasts pay and power gaps across a range of global health entities, including development institutions, philanthropic and faith-based organizations, nongovernmental organizations and public-private partnerships. By sharing its findings, Global Health 50/50 aims to foster change and contribute to a more gender-equal global health sector that works for everyone.
“There is an unbreakable link between gender equality and achieving our global health goals. To improve lives and communities, we must transform the harmful gender norms that inhibit access to health information and services,” Mancuso says. “This understanding informs Jhpiego’s approach to both staff and clients—from our nurses in Lesotho managing the care of men living with HIV, to those in India screening women for breast cancer, to our midwives resuscitating newborns in Afghanistan.”
She adds, “Jhpiego is proud to be recognized by Global Health 50/50, especially during this International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. We work to elevate nurses and midwives—who are 90-percent female and provide 80 percent of hands-on health care—to positions of leadership at all levels of the health care system.”
The official launch event for the report takes place Friday, March 13, at 18:30 GMT at University College London and via livestream. The event will feature key stakeholders discussing the report findings, implications and ways to improve policy and practice. Panelists include Elhadj As Sy (until January 31, the Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and now Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation Board), Kai Muraya (Wellcome Trust Research Centre, Kenya) and Shaheen Sayed (Senior Managing Director, Health and Public Service, Accenture).
