Women & Girls at the Center of Health Systems Fact Sheet

Women and girls confront many gender-related barriers—cultural, economic, structural, and physical—to accessing health care when and where they need it. Access to essential sexual, reproductive, and maternal health services is impacted by gender inequality and discriminatory socio-cultural norms and policies. At MSH we are dedicated to promoting gender equity and investing in women’s leadership. We support national health systems to provide person-centered primary health care, designed around women and girls’ needs, with integrated packages of health services. We put women and girls at the center of the health system. This approach considers people’s rights and needs as the foundation for how health services are designed, managed, and monitored. We focus on improving quality of care, increasing availability of integrated services, and championing women’s leadership in the health sector by leveraging our leadership, management, and governance approaches.