In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for the Western Pacific, Dr Takeshi Kasai put forth a vision for the Western Pacific Region that effectively responds to current and future regional health challenges through collectively acting today in addressing the challenges of tomorrow. Central to this vision is the need to apply a gender and equity lens to everything we do. The Western Pacific Region can only become the healthiest and safest WHO region if the health and safety needs of all persons are granted equal attention in designing and implementing current and future health programming. This strategy renews the Region’s commitment to use a gender and equity lens to everything we do and builds on the Region’s proud history of achievements and strong tradition of solidarity.
Applying a Gender and Equity Lens to all that We Do
“Reducing gender and health inequities is critical to achieving our long-term vision of making the Western Pacific the healthiest and safest region”.
—WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific. For the Future: Towards the Healthiest and Safest Region, 2019
To transform the vision put forth through WPRO’s For the Future five-year strategy and vision paper into reality, seven practical action areas was proposed and approved by all Member States in the Western Pacific Region:
Generate new evidence on gender, equity and human rights-based approaches in order to address barriers and facilitating factors, and strengthening each policy’s and programme’s contributions to address gender inequalities and social inequities in health;
Promote best practices and impact-driven interventions that have proven successful in reaching groups living in vulnerable situations.
Invest in data disaggregated by gender and other social stratifiers in order to identify gender inequalities and social inequities in health and better understand who is left behind;
Employ practical, “grounds-up” approaches – with active participation of individuals from diverse and representative communities, including those living in vulnerable situations;
Undertake systematic and effective capacity-building on gender, equity and human rights-based approaches for health.
Document and evaluate gender, equity and human rights-based innovations;
Establish a regional mechanism(s) for sharing knowledge and learning on gender, equity and human rights-based approaches, in order to further strengthen our work with other sectors beyond health.
