A brand new report launched by WomenLift Well being lays naked a vital however typically missed barrier to resilient well being programs in Southern Africa: a persistent management hole for girls within the public well being sector, regardless of a long time of progressive gender equality insurance policies.
Based mostly on a complete stakeholder evaluation throughout ten nations together with Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the Stakeholder Evaluation Report reveals that gender insurance policies celebrated on the nationwide degree continuously fail to translate into equitable office realities. As a substitute, ladies face a “glass ceiling in disguise,” the place institutional cultures, biased promotion programs, and caregiving expectations quietly restrict their rise to management.
“What seems to be like progress on paper is usually a façade. Inside well being programs, ladies are nonetheless hitting invisible partitions. If we’re critical about constructing resilient and efficient well being programs, we have to be critical about deliberately having ladies being a part of the decision-making,” stated Akhona Tshangela, Southern Africa Director at WomenLift Well being.
Even in nations with notable nationwide progress, resembling Namibia, which just lately elected its first feminine president, or South Africa, which has close to gender parity in politics, the general public well being sector tells a special story.
Girls stay underrepresented in senior roles, significantly on the district and provincial ranges, with Zambia reporting simply 13% feminine district well being leaders.
Join free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the newest in African information delivered straight to your inbox
Success!
Virtually completed…
We have to affirm your e mail deal with.
To finish the method, please observe the directions within the e mail we simply despatched you.
Error!
There was an issue processing your submission. Please strive once more later.
The report identifies a stark policy-practice hole, the place well-intentioned legal guidelines lack the enforcement, sources, or institutional will to vary office dynamics.
Patriarchal norms proceed to form decision-making, restrict entry to mentorship and maintain ladies from rising by way of the ranks. Even confirmed options, resembling management growth packages, male allyship, and work-life stability initiatives, are inconsistently utilized, typically leaving rural and underrepresented ladies behind.
However the findings aren’t only a diagnosis–they’re a name to motion. The report highlights vital interventions aligned with WomenLift Well being’s technique, together with funding in management journeys for mid-career ladies, capacity-building for office advocacy, and systemic engagement with male allies and senior decision-makers.
“This report validates WomenLift Well being’s strategy: sustainable change means lifting each the girl and the system she works in,” Tshangela added.
If Southern Africa is to construct resilient, equitable well being programs, management should mirror lived realities, not simply coverage beliefs.
This implies elevating those that perceive exclusion from the within and might drive systemic transformation from inside.
