Highlights of WHO’s work to support gender
statistics
Inter-Agency and Expert Group Meeting on the
Development of Gender Statistics
UNSD
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New York, December 2006
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Incorporating a
gender perspective into WHO’s policies and programmes
“ Integrating gender perspectives
in health action is sound public
health and will help to strengthen
the impact and coverage of our
work…………. Our commitment to
integrating gender perspectives
will need to be reflected in work
plans and budgeting as well as in
technical cooperation activities
with countries. Departments and
offices will be expected to develop
plans of action for integrating
gender perspectives into their
work.”
Main areas for supporting gender statistics
1.
World Health Statistics
– General health indicators – disaggregated by sex (e.g. life
expectancy at birth, condom use, prevalence of tobacco use)
2.
Research – generate data and develop data collection
tools
– WHO multi country study on violence against women
– Female genital mutilation (FGM) prevalence and health
outcomes
3.
Scientific consensus – develop indicators
– on the influence of both sex and gender on health risks,
health-seeking behaviour, health outcomes, for women and
men, their access to health-care and the response of health
care systems
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4.
Capacity building in integrating gender in thematic
areas of work (gender and rights in reproductive
health)
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2.
Research
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WHO multi country study on violence
against women
In 10 countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Japan, Peru,
Namibia, Samoa, Serbia and Montenegro, Thailand and
the United Republic of Tanzania
In every setting except Japan, more than a quarter of women
had been physically or sexually assaulted at least once
since the age of 15 years
Experience of intimate-partner violence was associated with
negative impacts on women’s current physical, mental,
sexual, and reproductive health
For 13%-52% of women, the violence started during the
pregnancy
Across all sites except Ethiopia, a woman who experienced
physical or sexual violence was more likely to report that
her partner was sexually involved with other women while
being with her
WHO multi country study on violence against
women – implications for data collection
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It is of prime importance for national statistics
offices and relevant ministries (such as
ministries of health and justice) to take
this issue on board. Priority must be given
to building capacity, and to ensure that
data are collected in a way that respects
confidentiality and does not jeopardize
women’s safety
WHO multi country study on violence against
women – guidance for data collection
the WHO
questionnaire and
2) the ethical and safety
guidelines developed
for the Study, and
3) the WHO/PATH
manual on
researching violence
against women
should be useful for
improving statistics in
this area
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1)
WHO multi country study on violence
against women
Violence against women: a statistical overview,
challenges and gaps in data collection and
methodology and approaches for overcoming
them"
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Expert Group Meeting (April 2005)
UN Division for the Advancement of Women
in collaboration with:
Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and
World Health Organization (WHO)
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Female Genital Mutilation
and Obstetric Outcome: WHO collaborative
prospective study in six African countries
Lancet, 2006
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Female Genital Mutilation
and Obstetric Outcome: WHO collaborative
prospective study in six African countries
Lancet, 2006
Female Genital Mutilation
and Obstetric Outcome: WHO collaborative
prospective study in six African countries
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“ FGM is a practice steeped in culture and
tradition but it should not be allowed to carry on.
We must support communities in their efforts to
abandon the practice and to improve care for
those who have undergone FGM. We must also
steadfastly resist the medicalization of FGM.
WHO is totally opposed to FGM being carried
out by medical personnel.”
WHO Press release
3.
Improving evidence-base, scientific consensus –
development of gender-related health indicators
On sexual and reproductive health topics that
disproportionately affect men and women
– Pregnancy-related deaths, morbidities
– HIV, other STIs
– Fertility, addressing needs for contraception
On sexual violence in emergencies
Gender analyses (careful examination of a particular
area of health to determine if, and in what ways, gender
norms, behaviours, and inequality are contributing to
poor health, disability, mortality, or lack of well-being) of
general health problems.
– Gender and mental health / road traffic injuries / tuberculosis /
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HIV/AIDS / aging / tobacco
4.
Capacity building – gender and
reproductive health
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• Aims to build capacity of senior
health personnel to implement the
commitments made at Cairo and
Beijing by using a gender and rights
framework in their work.
• Reinforces the analysis of and
approach to reproductive health
issues from a gender and rights
perspective.
• Helps applying gender
perspective into the different
elements of health system:
research, policy and programme
planning, and monitoring and
evaluation
WHO – gender
more information
www.who.int/reproductive-health/gender/
www.who.int/gender/
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www.who.int/reproductive-health/global_monitoring/