Course info

Gender is one of the social determinants of health. Since the widespread disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, affecting all regions of the world, special attention has been drawn to the negative impact of pandemics on gender inequality. Health crisis management, economic upheaval, and social, political and demographic issues are highlighted in the field of development with regard to the difficult integration of gender in the management of pandemics and recovery plans. Policies and health responses to Covid-19 have not sufficiently addressed the gendered impact of diseases and have not heeded all the lessons that can be learned from recent epidemics. This module proposes a critical analysis of how and why use gender and intersectionality frameworks to investigate the impact of pandemics, and to improve health outcomes for individuals and communities. This optional module introduces the main challenges of gender agenda and global health actors and governance, presents a wide range of lessons that can be learned from recent epidemics, and examines tools to facilitate the development of gender sensitive health care policies and systems. Addressing reproductive health, gender-based violence, but also gender stereotypes that impact the access to the health care, development programmes and projects can sustain transformative changes in health crisis contexts and beyond.