Health

WPL Councils are the knowledge platforms that align purpose, impact and action. In WPL Council meetings, female political leaders and other experts exchange information on political decisions that successfully passed the reality test: best practice examples (e.g. legislation, agenda setting, leadership) that advance society. WPL Councils focus on five policy areas: health, economic empowerment, peace & Security, technology and energy.

Council on Health

The WPL Council on Health “Healthy Women, Healthy Economies” was founded jointly with Merck on May 5th 2016 at the WIP Global Summit in Jordan. The Council gives female Parliamentarians from all continents the opportunity to share their experiences in advancing women’s labor force participation through better health.

Addressing “Healthy Women, Healthy Economies” requires a whole of government approach. The public and private sector, including families and communities, have to jointly commit to this, and Ministries of Labor, Health and Gender have to work together to address these disparities. Parliamentarians play a key advocacy and policy role in bringing the topic of women’s economic empowerment and health to the attention of policy makers, and creating an enabling environment for such policies to be implemented. The Council currently has 20 members from the Middle East and Europe.

Recognizing that member states will have to develop implementation strategies to achieve the SDG Goal 5 targets, WIP with the private sector is establishing a Working Council to focus on this topic. This Working Council will ensure that female parliamentarians are well informed on policies that have shown to ease health barriers for women. This Working Council will also serve as a forum where members can share initiatives from around the world that tackle women’s health issues.

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