Resistance to gender equality can undermine research, funding, policies, programmes and access to healthcare. The Gender Response generates and synthesises evidence to identify effective and feasible responses, translates that evidence into advocacy and practical tools, and collaborates with relevant actors to mobilise action.
Through this pathway, the initiative aims to influence health policy, programmes and systems and ultimately contribute to more equitable health outcomes.
Still questioning why there is a need for action?
Meet the brains behind the cause
Research and Advocacy Lead | Gender rights advocate and health systems researcher advancing gender-transformative approaches in health policy and practice
Warda Batool is a gender rights advocate and health systems and policy researcher. Her work focuses on analysing health programmes and national health policies through a gender lens to generate evidence that informs policymakers, healthcare practitioners, and gender equality advocates.
She has served as the Research and Policy Lead at the Commonwealth Youth Gender Equality Network, where she led the development of gender-responsive policy recommendations to address structural barriers and institutional inequalities across sectors, including health systems, nutrition, and public policy.
Previously, Warda worked with United for Global Mental Health and the NCD Alliance, contributing to global health research on health workforce optimisation, gender-related barriers to healthcare access, and the integration of mental health and non-communicable disease services.
Through The Gender Response, she applies interdisciplinary research and policy expertise to support the design, assessment, and strengthening of gender-transformative health interventions that dismantle exisitng systems and structures exacerbating gender inequalities.
Need for action: an overview
