The Alliance «Gender Equality & Health» is composed of the three Swiss non-governmental Organisations IAMANEH Schweiz, Médecins du Monde Suisse, and Women’s Hope International. All three member are anchored in Swiss civil society and have a vast strategic and operational knowledge in the areas of gender equality and women’s rights, as well as in related challenges in the healthcare sector, especially pertaining to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and the fight against harmful practices and Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV). The three member organizations have more than 90 years of experience in these thematic fields.
The Alliance’s international programme covers 19 partner countries in Eastern Europe, Southern Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean. While these show varying levels of human development, they all have in common persisting high levels of gender inequality in all areas of social and economic life, with increased vulnerability especially for women and children.
Based on the objectives and experiences of its members, the Alliance has set as its overall goal that «more women and children have improved access to SRHR and realize their rights free from violence and other forms of discrimination, making self-determined and informed decisions about their lives».
The Alliance’s programme is designed based on the specific programmes of each partner, as well as by joint actions and approaches. This allows the Alliance to amplify its resources, to strengthen capacity building and common learning within the Alliance and with the partners and, lastly, to create synergies between the approaches which will contribute to the impact of its interventions.
Rationale and Vision
Worldwide discrimination against women is one of the most widespread human rights violations, with dire effects on their physical and psychological well-being and on their chances to become self-determined actors of their lives. Equally women and children are the main victims of poor health systems and of unequal access to healthcare and the most at risk of violence.
The Alliance shares the vision of a gender-equal world, free of gender-based discrimination and violence. A world in which all, including the most vulnerable, enjoy their sexual and reproductive rights and access quality sexual and reproductive healthcare services. Through partnerships with local actors (Sustainable Development Goals > SDG 17), the goal of the Alliance is to promote gender equality (SDG 5) and improve sexual and reproductive health and rights (SDG 3), thus contributing to poverty reduction (SDG 1).
Within the Alliance, the members will develop common approaches and join forces to boost their technical capacities, create synergies aiming to multiply the impact of their programme, to become a unique centre of excellence in the Swiss development cooperation sector.
The Gender Equality & Health Alliance is funded by the SDC.
