Academic Journal
Strengthening women's leadership in health systems through innovation and intersectionality.
| Τίτλος: | Strengthening women's leadership in health systems through innovation and intersectionality. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Osborne A; Institute for Development, Western Area, Freetown, Sierra Leone., Vandi M; Ministry of Health, Freetown, Sierra Leone. moriebartvandi@gmail.com.; Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA. moriebartvandi@gmail.com. |
| Πηγή: | International journal for equity in health [Int J Equity Health] 2026 Jun 18; Vol. 25 (1). Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jun 18. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: BioMed Central Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101147692 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1475-9276 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14759276 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Int J Equity Health Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: [London] : BioMed Central, 2002- |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Delivery of Health Care*/organization & administration , Leadership*, Female ; Humans ; Gender Equity ; Global Health ; Women's Rights ; Workforce Diversity |
| Περίληψη: | Women comprise most of the global health and care workforce, yet they remain underrepresented in leadership across health systems, including in ministries of health, hospitals, academic institutions, humanitarian agencies, and health financing bodies. This imbalance is not only a matter of fairness; it shapes whose expertise is recognised, which priorities are funded, and how health systems respond to inequity, crisis, and exclusion. The problem is particularly acute in fragile and conflict-affected settings, where insecurity, displacement, interrupted education, shrinking civic space, and institutional breakdown further narrow women's pathways into leadership. This viewpoint argues that strengthening women's leadership should be treated as a core component of health systems strengthening rather than as a peripheral diversity agenda. It further argues that leadership initiatives must move beyond numerical inclusion to address how authority, legitimacy, and opportunity are distributed across institutions and communities. Drawing on an intersectional lens, the paper examines how gender interacts with ethnicity, caste, class, disability, age, geography, and displacement status to shape who is excluded from leadership pathways and why. It then outlines four practical and adaptable strategies for change: digital mentorship and leadership training platforms, community-based leadership incubators, policy and institutional reform fellowships, and participatory research and advocacy networks. The paper emphasises that leadership development will remain limited unless it is accompanied by reforms to workplace culture, sponsorship, promotion systems, safety, and institutional accountability. Strengthening women's leadership in health systems is therefore essential not only for representation, but also for building more equitable, trusted, and resilient systems capable of advancing universal health coverage and responding effectively to diverse community needs. (© 2026. The Author(s).) |
| Competing Interests: | Declarations. Ethical approval: This manuscript is a viewpoint article based on existing literature and does not involve primary data collection or human subjects research. Therefore, ethical approval for this type of study is not required by the Institute for Development, Sierra Leone. Consent for publication: We consent to the publication of this manuscript, including any revisions deemed necessary by the editorial team, provided that authorship and content integrity are maintained. Reflexivity: We recognize the importance of inclusivity and positionality in global health research. This work is informed by our experience working in Sierra Leone and our engagement with health systems in low-resource and fragile settings. We have sought to reflect diverse perspectives from the literature and our professional networks to ensure that the analysis is contextually grounded and relevant. We acknowledge the limitations of our perspectives and welcome continued engagement and critique from colleagues across different backgrounds, disciplines, and regions to strengthen this work further. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. |
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| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Gender equity; Health systems strengthening; Health workforce; Intersectionality; Leadership development; Women’s leadership |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260619 Date Completed: 20260619 Latest Revision: 20260805 |
| Update Code: | 20260805 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC13277078 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s12939-026-02926-8 |
| PMID: | 42316198 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1475-9276 |
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| DOI: | 10.1186/s12939-026-02926-8 |