Gender Equality, Norms, and Health

The Lancet "The Series on Gender Equality, Norms, and Health is a collection of five papers, led by Gary Darmstadt and colleagues, that provides new analysis and insights into the impact of gender inequalities and norms on health, and the opportunities that exist within health systems, programmes, policies, and research to transform gender norms and inequalities.

The need for more action and accountability on gender equality is clear: introduction of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Universal Health Coverage goals demand greater attention to the social determinants of health, including gender, for the purpose of enabling all people to reach their full human potential. The systemic neglect of gender norms and inequalities in programme design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation undermine the health of everyone—women and girls, boys and men, and gender minorities." (Photo: Phelomena Bisengo 35, a sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) psychosocial counselor, recently counseled an 11-year-old girl who was raped in her own home by a man who worked for her father/USAID U.S. Agency for International Development/flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)

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