The blog outlines five steps to facilitate gender transformative humanitarian programming based on analysis, research and programme experience.

Webinar: "Building Back Better: What part should gender play in reconstructing post-conflict health systems?" - held on March 8, 2016 with Health Systems Global.

Ebola is just one of the many crisis the world faced through 2015, which also saw the Nepal earthquakes, Yemen civil war, South Sudan conflict and the Syrian refugee crisis to name but a few. So, what have we learnt? What is the most effective way of rebuilding a country after catastrophe?

December 10th is human rights day and the culmination of 16 days of action of the UNiTE to End Violence against Women Campaign. Here in Amsterdam, in preparation for the panel that will be held during the sexual and reproductive health and rights in fragile environments: Turning Challenges into opportunities symposium, we panelists had the opportunity to discuss the opportunities to realize sexual and reproductive rights and address violence in fragile settings.

Sarah Ssali (Department of Women and Gender Studies at the University of Makarere in Uganda) gender and poverty in post-conflict countries and its effects on health outcomes. This video is part of the Building Back Better series on health systems in post-conflict settings and gender equity. It draws on her work in Northern Uganda. 

This brief examines the reform of health systems in post-conflict settings through a gender lens, using the World Health Organization’s health system building blocks as a framework. Research into the importance of reconstructing health systems after a crisis or war is relatively new, therefore literature discussing challenges and best practices related to gender equity is weak and the evidence base limited. Further study is clearly needed into the impact of strengthening the health system on gender equity. 

This policy brief looks at the context of gender and health, and how they are affected by conflict. It also assesses whether humanitarian assistance in the immediate post- conflict period addresses the impact of conflict on health from a gender perspective. A second sister brief examines long-term reform of the health system through a gender lens, using the World Health Organization’s health system building blocks as a framework.

The post-conflict or post-crisis period provides the opportunity for wide-ranging public sector reforms: donors fund rebuilding and reform efforts, social norms are in a state of flux, and the political climate may be conducive to change. This reform period presents favourable circumstances for the promotion of gender equity in multiple social arenas, including the health system. As part of a larger research project that explores whether and how gender equity considerations are taken into account in the reconstruction and reform of health systems in conflict-affected and post conflict countries, we undertook a narrative literature review based on the questions “How gender sensitive is the reconstruction and reform of health systems in post conflict countries, and what factors need to be taken into consideration to build a gender equitable health system?”

By Esther Richards and Val Percival

From press headlines, television debates and online commentaries, the whole world seems to have understood the significance of building strong and resilient health systems given the recent catastrophic events occurring in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. But how does gender play a role in health systems reconstruction and how might a gendered lens make health systems more robust after conflict?

Read the full post on the RinGs blog >