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Gender Equality, Health Priority – WHO

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The World Health Organisation(WHO) says gender equality is a priority to improve well being of the society.
While acknowledging violence against women and girls as a major public health challenge, the body said human rights priority remains a major path to health improvement around the globe.
Globally it revealed that almost one in three women experience physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime, mostly by an intimate partner, which is a stark reminder of the scale of gender inequality and discrimination against women.
“Violence against women and girls remains an immense crisis for rights and health for millions of women and girls around the world,” said Dr Pascale Allotey, Director of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research at WHO, and head of the United Nations Special Programme on Human Reproduction (HRP).
He said,”Governments need to ‘walk the talk’ in investing in evidence-based resources for violence prevention and response, while advancing gender equality. This new platform aims to support this process.”
Digital tools support concrete efforts to end violence against women and girls
The newly launched “Women Deliver 2023” coincides with the mid-way point since the Generation Equality Forum appointed WHO and United Nations Women as co-leads of the Action Coalition for ending gender-based violence, which continues to affect millions of women and girls around the world – with devastating health impacts.
The new RESPECT women website it unveiled recently  contributes towards delivering the Action Coalition’s commitments for violence prevention. The user-friendly, interactive platform provides practical support for implementing the RESPECT women framework’s seven evidence-based strategies, with briefs on how to implement successful programmes, and training and multimedia materials for advocacy.
The RESPECT framework, which launched in 2019, has been rolled out in 16 countries, with country examples illustrating positive results. Yet, data from a WHO report shows only 40 per cent of countries include at least one of three essential RESPECT strategies – empowering women, ensuring relevant services, and transforming gender attitudes, beliefs and norms – in their national policies for addressing violence against women.
Recognising the health sector’s important role in preventing and responding to violence against women and girls, WHO is working with partners to fulfill commitments to address gender-based violence in the following ways:
In 2021, WHO published global, regional and country prevalence estimates for violence against women and girls, along with an interactive visualisation database.
In countries experiencing conflict, natural disaster, and other emergencies, WHO is supporting 21 countries in humanitarian settings to strengthen health responses to gender-based violence.

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