Digital Document (pdf, doc, ppt, txt, etc.)

The pandemic has made visible the need for hospitals to offer the adapted working conditions and to deliver a service of the highest quality. Healthcare workers are leaving the sector faster than ever because of poor working conditions, lack of an adequate work-life balance, and work-related safety and health risks, which were exacerbated during the pandemic. Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) are a proven method to initiate a process of sustainable institutional change to the benefit of the quality of care, that is linked to the motivation and well-being of the people working in hospitals.

Several studies highlight the extent of women’s under-representation in decision-making and the invisibility of their voices in policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. A greater representation of women in decision-making, combined with an explicit focus on diversity and inclusion, can make a significant contribution in overturning the worst effects of Covid-19 responses on inequalities. A higher women’s presence in decision-making means that women’s interests are more likely to be addressed in policy discussions and outcomes. 

Although gender mainstreaming has been adopted as an approach in EU policymaking for over two decades, national-level policies are largely still not mainstreamed. Gender mainstreaming should not only be an ambition, it should also be implemented, monitored, and evaluated, with concrete results and impact. In particular, policies should not only focus on so-called “traditional” or “typical” family models, citizenship criteria, and standard employment contracts, as this focus results in the exclusion of large segments of European societies (e.g., LGBTQI+ people, the unemployed, migrants etc.).