Feminist governance in global health

What does feminist governance look like in the World Health Organization (WHO), the leading global health institution? In this chapter we examine feminist principles and practices in response to health emergencies. WHO is the leading international organization that guides states’ response to health emergencies. As early as 2001, WHO adopted gender inclusive language (principles) and practices. Mainstreaming language and practice across the organisation, especially in health emergency response, has been ad hoc. Until the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2015 was the largest health emergency faced by the organisation. During this emergency, the health of women and girls was affected by the Ebola outbreak in ways that were significantly different to men and boys. In 2015, an independent report on the global health response to the Ebola outbreak found that the WHO had failed women and girls in the Ebola outbreak response. Jump forward to January 2020 to examine WHO’s initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the organisation again failed to provide gender-specific advice and recommendations until May 2020. WHO’s status as the leading technical agency in health emergency response has been maintained by diffidence to collective state approval. Maintaining approval is secured through apolitical stances, including on gender. As this chapter reveals, including feminist knowledge and addressing gendered harms in health emergencies requires addressing state power on gender relations. The consequence of WHO avoiding feminist practice in health emergency response is to exclude institutional gender progressive language and knowledge. The COVID-19 pandemic may serve as an opportunity for WHO to recognise that its political inaction concerning gender relations is political and not tenable for the leading international health authority.