Invest in youth led efforts for gender equality and pandemic preparedness

Women, people aged under 30, and marginalised populations, especially from low and middle income countries (LMICs), continue to face barriers to participation in global health governance systems. As a result, these voices often go unheard and are not included in decision making processes related to health. As the BMJ collection on gender equality and pandemic response shows (www.bmj.com/gender-and-pandemic-response),1 traction is growing for recognising the importance of applying a gender lens within pandemic preparedness research and policy. However, adolescents (12-19 year olds) and youth (under 30s) remain missing within multistakeholder health emergency and disaster committees, from health system preparedness and responses at all levels (global, regional, national, and local), and within the research agenda.2Covid-19 has essentially reversed gains in gender equality, widening socioeconomic, educational, and health inequalities for women and the world’s 1.8 billion young people (aged 10-24 years).34 During the pandemic and its aftermath, women and girls carried an unequal…
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