Last month’s United Nations General Assembly in New York sought to accelerate global progress on many of the world’s most pressing problems, including climate change and gender equality. During the assembly, Michele Barry, director of the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health and senior associate dean of global health, participated in a panel designed to elevate women’s health needs as a key priority. 

As the founder of the international nonprofit WomenLift Health, she’s a leading voice calling for greater women’s leadership in global health. Given the close ties between climate and health, she also advocates for greater female representation in climate science and negotiations, such as the upcoming COP29 climate change convention. 

The current election season has placed women’s health concerns and leadership in the national spotlight, but women have long been sidelined in pivotal medical research and health care initiatives, Barry said. At a time of growing interest in women’s health, Barry discussed climate’s disproportionate impact on women, other overlooked health concerns, and the distinct ways that female leadership can accelerate solutions to some of the world’s most challenging health problems. 

Read more at: https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2024/10/why-women-s-leadership-is-crucial-for-global-health-and-environmental-progress