6 March 2025 – “For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.” The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, celebrated each year on 8 March, resonates deeply with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) commitment to promote gender equality in the health sector across the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
Women are the backbone of the health and social services workforce, comprising approximately 70% of health sector employees globally. Despite this strong representation and the significant contributions they make to service delivery, leadership and policy development, a report on women’s employment in health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region reveals that women typically earn 28% less than their male counterparts and are less likely to hold full-time positions.
As the global community comes together to celebrate the achievements of women, WHO is advocating for strategies to dismantle systemic barriers to gender equality. We cannot ignore the challenges women continue to face, including pay disparities and barriers to full-time employment. Investing in transformative policies is essential to foster an equitable and resilient health workforce.
WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean is aligning this year’s International Women’s Day celebration with its Regional Director’s flagship initiative on investing in a resilient and sustainable health workforce, with the goal of highlighting the crucial role of women in building and sustaining a resilient health workforce and advocating for strategies to support and empower them in all settings.
The regional campaign aims to:
increase awareness and advocacy for gender equality and women’s empowerment within the health workforce;
strengthen commitment from regional stakeholders to support women in health;
enhance networking and collaboration among women health professionals; and
identify key policy and programmatic recommendations to promote women’s leadership and participation in health sector resilience.
To highlight these goals, amplify the voices of women leaders in the field and foster regional dialogue on investing in gender-responsive health workforce programmes and initiatives, WHO is organizing a webinar with the participation of experts and officials from countries across the Region, and from the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.
