GWL Voices at the World Health Assembly 78: Spotlighting the Missing Women in Global Health Leadership

As the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA78) finalizes in Geneva, all eyes are on the major policy decisions that will shape global health for years to come—from pandemic preparedness to WHO budget reforms. But one issue too often overlooked is finally gaining the visibility it deserves: the deep and persistent gender gap in global health leadership.

GWL Voices has taken this year’s Assembly as a moment of reckoning. In the midst of conversations on antimicrobial resistance, noncommunicable diseases, and funding crises, GWL Voices is making a powerful intervention: global health cannot be effectively governed without gender-balanced leadership.

A Stark Imbalance: Where Are the Women?

GWL Voices launched Spotlight: Women in Global Health Leadership—the first comprehensive qualitative and quantitative study that examines how many women have held top leadership positions in four key global health institutions: the World Health Organization (WHO) and its regional offices, Gavi, the Global Fund, and UNAIDS.

The data is striking. Despite women making up a significant majority of the global health workforce—estimated at around 70%—they are vastly underrepresented at the decision-making level. The study reveals a pattern of institutionalized exclusion: few women have led these organizations, fewer still have shaped their strategic direction, and almost none have been considered for top executive roles over multiple leadership cycles. Over time, women have held a total of 17% of leadership positions across these organizations (13 out of 78).

A Crisis of Representation

This lack of representation is not a side issue—it’s central to the effectiveness of the global health system. Women are on the front lines of every health crisis. They are the caregivers, the nurses, the community health workers. Yet, the rooms where decisions are made about vaccine procurement, pandemic preparedness, and health financing are still dominated by men.

“Every time I see a photo of the heads of global health organizations, maybe you got the head of UNICEF and maybe you got the head of UNFPA, but other than that we are not there. And yet, as we know women do dominate the health workforce. We are actually larger users of the health system than men”, explained GWL Voices co-founder and member, Helen Clark.

During WHA78, where 3,000 delegates deliberated over 75 items ranging from rare diseases to climate-linked health risks, GWL Voices is ensuring that gender parity is not sidelined. The group’s advocacy calls on Member States to go beyond rhetorical commitments and take concrete steps to ensure gender-responsive governance in global health.

This includes:

• Gender parity in senior leadership and governing bodies of global health organizations
• Transparent selection processes that value women's leadership
• Greater funding for gender-focused health programs
• Systematic collection and publication of gender-disaggregated leadership data

“We thought it would be important to look at specific sectors and look at that year by year to provide evidence, knowledge and stimulate people to do something about it”, said GWL Voices member, Flavia Bustreo.

A Critical Juncture

The WHA78 is unfolding amid severe budget cuts and leadership transitions. WHO, facing a $2.5 billion shortfall, is undergoing structural reforms that will shrink its departments from 76 to 34. High-profile leaders like Dr. Mike Ryan is stepping down, and regional director elections are underway, some in which there are no female candidates considered. These shifts represent both a challenge and an opportunity.

“The World Health Assembly has sent a clear message: countries want a strong WHO and are committed to working together with WHO to build a healthier, safer and fairer world. These were strong votes of confidence in WHO at this critical time,” said during the closing event.

Building Forward Fairer

The common concerns in a myriad of panels was funding and how to continue working with smaller budgets. In this sense one of the most threatened agenda is on adolescents’ health and reproductive rights. From the experts, the message was clear: we must continue investing in adolescents' health and reproductive rights—not despite financial constraints, but because of them. As highlighted in the final panel by Rajat Khosla, countries in crisis are grappling with overlapping health emergencies, yet they remain committed to protecting the rights of young people. There is no Planet B, and the adolescents of today are the leaders, caregivers, and changemakers of tomorrow. This moment is not only a reflection of hard-earned progress in challenging circumstances, but also a testimony to the power of global collaboration, resilient partnerships, and the urgent need to increase efficiency and impact. Today is not a celebration alone—it is a call to action to do more with less, and to ensure that even in constrained times, we do not leave adolescents behind.

GWL Voices’ Spotlight study is more than a report—it’s a call to action. The findings urge stakeholders to move from diagnosis to prescription. The organization is now working with partners and allies to translate this data into policy change, leadership commitments, and public accountability.

“Something that stood out to me is the appalling speed at which we are making progress or the lack thereof, and also the fragility that we are dealing with. Everything that is happening around us with all this thrive and the pushback that we are seeing. What really impressed me was the consistency, in which these organizations keep doing the same thing. After all these discussions it continues. So I think the urgency for the need to achieve this on scale and the speed we need to move, it is something that we will advocate for. But also in recognizing that we are not going to get there with top-down solutions, it really has to come with scale and bottom-up solutions as well,” explained Revati Phalkey, Director of the UN University Institute for Global Health.

With WHA78 also debating a historic pandemic agreement and renewed calls for sustainable health financing, GWL Voices reminds the global community: resilient, equitable, and inclusive health systems cannot be built on the backs of women without women at the helm.