Gender
If the most is to be made of human resources and the interests of poor people are to be fully taken into account then issues of social development and gender need to be considered. The challenge is to develop innovative human resource strategies that take into account the particular needs of women and men.
In Equity, equal opportunities, gender and organization performance in the health sector, commissioned by the WHO Global Health Workforce Strategy, Hilary Standing and Elaine Baume present a review of gender, equal opportunities and organisation performance in the health sector. It highlights the fact that employment equity debates and policies largely refer to high-income countries and that even in these countries there remain few instances where there is clear evidence of successful outcomes. The review provides a series of instances where there has been some general agreement regarding the implementation of better practices and also sheds illumination on the areas where there remain gaps in knowledge between current practices and the evidence.
The article Gender: a missing dimension in human resource policy and planning for health reforms takes up the relatively neglected issue of gender in human resources policy and planning (HRPP), with particular reference to the health sector in developing countries. Current approaches to human resources lack any reference to gender issues. Meeting the health needs of women as major users and potential beneficiaries of health services is a key international concern.
In the article Gender dimensions of AIDS in Zambia from the Journal of Gender Studies, Abrahamsen argues that within the poor urban households of Kitwe in Zambia, the impact of AIDS affects women disproportionately due to their subordinate status and the numerous roles that they traditionally undertake. The paper asks whether home-based AIDS care threatens to overload the coping capabilities of women and suggests that any improvement in the situation will require a broad based solution that aims to empower and improve women’s economic independence.
In a Health Policy and Planning paper Gender and equity in health sector reform programmes: a review Hilary Standing reviews literature and debates relating to Health Sector Reform (HSR) in relation to women’s health and gender equity. The paper attempts to provide an analysis of gender and women’s health issues most likely to be associated with HSR in order to outline an agenda for further research. The premise of the article is that gender cuts across poverty.
In Equity, equal opportunities, gender and organization performance in the health sector, commissioned by the WHO Global Health Workforce Strategy, Hilary Standing and Elaine Baume present a review of gender, equal opportunities and organisation performance in the health sector. It highlights the fact that employment equity debates and policies largely refer to high-income countries and that even in these countries there remain few instances where there is clear evidence of successful outcomes. The review provides a series of instances where there has been some general agreement regarding the implementation of better practices and also sheds illumination on the areas where there remain gaps in knowledge between current practices and the evidence.
The article Gender: a missing dimension in human resource policy and planning for health reforms takes up the relatively neglected issue of gender in human resources policy and planning (HRPP), with particular reference to the health sector in developing countries. Current approaches to human resources lack any reference to gender issues. Meeting the health needs of women as major users and potential beneficiaries of health services is a key international concern.
In the article Gender dimensions of AIDS in Zambia from the Journal of Gender Studies, Abrahamsen argues that within the poor urban households of Kitwe in Zambia, the impact of AIDS affects women disproportionately due to their subordinate status and the numerous roles that they traditionally undertake. The paper asks whether home-based AIDS care threatens to overload the coping capabilities of women and suggests that any improvement in the situation will require a broad based solution that aims to empower and improve women’s economic independence.
In a Health Policy and Planning paper Gender and equity in health sector reform programmes: a review Hilary Standing reviews literature and debates relating to Health Sector Reform (HSR) in relation to women’s health and gender equity. The paper attempts to provide an analysis of gender and women’s health issues most likely to be associated with HSR in order to outline an agenda for further research. The premise of the article is that gender cuts across poverty.
Recommended reading
- Gender: a missing dimension in human resource policy and planning for health reforms
- ( H. Standing / Human Resources for Health Development Journal, Thailand , 2000)
- This article takes up the relatively neglected issue of gender in human resources policy and planning (HRPP), with particular reference to the health sector in developing countries. Current approaches...
- Improving female recruitment, participation, and retention among peer educators in the Geração BIZ Program in Mozambique
- ( R Badiani; J Senderowitz; L Guirao; M| Mello / Pathfinder International , 2006)
- This report from Pathfinder International outlines an intervention to boost the number of young women participating as peer workers in a youth work project in Mozambique. It describes how the new stra...
- Women and international migration in the health sector
- ( K Van Eyck / Public Services International , 2004)
- This report from Public Services International documents how the global migration of health workers is adversely affecting the quality of health care delivery and the employment conditions of women he...
