Event highlights
On 5 March 2026, WHO/Europe marked International Women’s Day with a special online event under the theme “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls”.
The event brought together representatives from WHO, UNICEF, UN Women, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the European Institute of Women’s Health and health ministries of Albania, Kazakhstan, Republic of Moldova and Spain, among others.
Participants reviewed progress, identified persistent gaps and called for stronger, coordinated action to advance women’s health and address violence against women and girls across the life course.
Persistent inequities, structural changes
Opening the event, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, and Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, Director of the Division of Health Systems at WHO/Europe, underscored that violence against women and girls remains a public health crisis requiring urgent and sustained action.
Dr Kluge stated: “I am overwhelmed by the enthusiasm we are seeing from all countries – from west to east, north to south. My first step was to declare it what it is: a public health crisis”.
He also highlighted the structural drivers of inequality: “As countries grow wealthier, the child penalty becomes the dominant driver of gender inequality”.
On this issue, Natasha Azzopardi Muscat added: “Later this year, we will be publishing the second health equity status report. However, the preliminary data do show that women continue to pay this penalty, even later in life”.
Peggy Maguire, who has spent over 25 years exposing gender bias in research, innovation and health policy across Europe, emphasized the need for leadership and accountability: “Women’s health is a barometer of democratic legitimacy. Health systems that fail to respond to half their population erode trust”.
“The question is no longer whether we can afford to invest in women’s health. The evidence suggests that we cannot afford not to. National leaders have mobilized, European momentum is growing, WHO frameworks are in place. What remains is sustained political will and collaboration because, ultimately, systemic inequities are built into our systems and with courageous political leadership they can be built out.”
Turning policies and data into powerful and bold action
Speakers shared concrete examples of progress and implementation across countries and systems.
Representing the Republic of Moldova, Natalia Plugaru, Minister of Labour and Social Protection, highlighted measurable results: “According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2025, the Republic of Moldova now ranks among the top 10 countries globally, having closed more than 80% of each gender gap. This shows that even small countries can make meaningful progress when equality becomes a national priority”.
At the global level, Antonella Lavelanet, Medical Public Officer at the WHO Human Reproduction Programme, emphasized the need to strengthen health systems through integrated approaches: “That is why WHO is developing its first global guidance on perimenopause and menopause, providing clear recommendations that can be integrated into primary health care so that support is available to all women, not only those with access to specialist services”[
A call for stronger collaboration was issued by Professor Frank Louwen: “We now need a new coalition for women’s health worldwide, but especially here in our region. It does not make any sense for us to be producing all the different huge partner organizations’ guidelines separately. We are now getting together to implement a better way”.
Digital innovation examples shared by Bogi Eliasen illustrated the ways in which systemic change requires a system-level response: “We will not solve this by taking it disease by disease. Many of the root causes are the same and we need to acknowledge that the disease burden that people carry during their lifetimes is huge and mostly underestimated. Therefore, we must find better ways of making these connections”.
Integration across systems was a recurring theme. Mette Strandlod, Policy and Advocacy Specialist at the UNFPA Nordic Representation Office, stressed: “Sexual and reproductive health should not be siloed – it should be integrated into health systems and health architecture”.
Minister of Health of Spain Mónica García Gómez underlined the importance of implementation through policy and primary care: “In Spain, we believe that women’s right to comprehensive health care is guaranteed when it is integrated into strategic planning. Supported by clear indicators, backed by stable funding and implemented at the first level of care. Strengthening primary care with a gender perspective is our key tool for preventing and responding to gender-based violence, and moving towards a more fair and inclusive health system.”
The link between health systems and justice was highlighted by Ceren Güven Güres, Head of the Central Asian Liaison Office and Representative of the Kazakhstan Country Office for UN Women: “Access to justice is not only about courtrooms. Health workers are often the first point of contact, the first step towards accountability. Where justice is weak, violence persists”.
System-level reforms have also been progressing in the Netherlands, where efforts focus on improving research, standards and collaboration to better reflect sex and gender differences in health care.
Sweden’s Chief Midwifery Officer Susanna Åhlund emphasized equitable access: “The challenge is not lack of treatment. The challenge is equal access”.
A strong call to listen to lived experiences came from Martina Alberani, Chair of the Young Women’s Health Group, researcher and fierce advocate for the health of young women: “Inequalities are actively shaping young women’s future health outcomes. Despite all the progress, endometriosis takes an average of 7 years to be diagnosed and young women continue to go through painful procedures, such as cervical biopsies or intrauterine device insertions, without pain management, even if it is available”.
Lastly, representing Albania, Deputy Minister Denada Seferi issued a powerful call to action: “I call on governments to align national health systems with the Second European Programme of Work by embedding life-course, rights-based and gender-responsive approaches into research, budgeting and accountability mechanisms. The future of health depends on whether we choose to design systems that truly work for the 51%, and therefore for everyone”.
A clear call to action
While progress is evident, it remains uneven and, in some contexts, fragile. To address this, the speakers called for:
- stronger political commitment and sustained investment in women’s health priorities;
- integrated, life-course, rights-based and gender-responsive approaches to women’s health; and
- strengthened health system responses to violence against women and girls.
The message was clear: women’s health must move from commitment to bold, sustained, system-wide action.
Event notice
On 5 March 2026, WHO/Europe will host a special online event to mark International Women’s Day 2026, under the theme “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls”. The event is open to the public, and anyone can register at the following link.
At the heart of the event is the principle that women’s right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is not a sectoral issue, but one that is central to equitable, resilient and sustainable societies.
Women represent 51% of the population in the WHO European Region. Yet across the Region, persistent – and in some contexts widening – health inequities continue across the life course. Women spend a greater proportion of their lives in poor health.
From sexual, reproductive and maternal health to noncommunicable diseases, mental health, ageing and access to care, women face unique and often overlooked challenges shaped by biological, social, economic, cultural, commercial and environmental determinants of health. Women and girls in all their diversity continue to experience gender inequality and discrimination that puts their health and well-being at risk.
The Region has the highest levels of gender equality globally. However, no country has fully achieved the equality targets set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Gender inequalities in income, access to financial resources, access to education, access to employment, working conditions, social protection, as well as violence and discrimination against women, continue to negatively impact women’s health throughout the life course.
Violence against women remains one of the most insidious barriers to health and well-being. Nearly 1 in 3 women experience physical and/or sexual violence at least once in their lifetime, most often by an intimate partner. Yet fewer than 40% of countries in the Region have adopted the minimum WHO-recommended health service policies for post-rape care.
Under the Second European Programme of Work (EPW2) 2026–2030, WHO/Europe’s Special Initiative calls for urgent action to strengthen health sector leadership in preventing and responding to violence against women and girls and to support their right to health.
About the webinar
The event is open to the public and you can register by clicking the “register” button at the bottom of this page.
Ten years after Member States endorsed the Strategy on Women’s Health and Well-being in the WHO European Region, this high-level webinar provides a platform to assess progress, identify persistent gaps and catalyse coordinated action.
WHO Regional Director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, will open the event, followed by a series of interventions and panel discussions featuring representatives from, among others:
- United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF);
- United Nations Programme for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women);
- United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA);
- European Institute of Women’s Health; and
- ministries of health of Albania, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Moldova and Spain.