What it means to create a 'women's health development army'

Health extension worker Alemitu Markos talks with women from a community in Durame, Ethiopia. How can the international development community help achieve a better future for girls and women? Photo by: UNICEF Ethiopia / CC BY-NC-ND

I attended the fourth Women Deliver Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, two weeks ago. I listened to fascinating stories of thousands of impassioned advocates, policymakers, researchers and young people in attendance and shared the lessons from my own experience nationally and globally. Throughout the conference my consistent message was that we need to work together as conscious disruptors of the status quo.

Over the next few years, the Sustainable Development Goals will offer us a unique opportunity to deliver results in integrated and collaborative way. They will enable us to tackle the many global challenges we are facing — from conflict and forced migration, natural disasters and climate change, to pandemics and antimicrobial resistance. It is only through collaboration that we can achieve peace, security and positive health outcomes for all.

About the author

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    Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

    Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is director-general of the World Health Organization. His distinguished health leadership career spans nearly 30 years. As minister of health from 2005 to 2012, Dr. Tedros transformed Ethiopia’s health system by investing in infrastructure, building the health workforce, and developing innovative ways to direct resources where they were most needed.