ÌÇÐÄTV

Over the past two decades, African countries have made significant progress in developing digital health strategies to strengthen health systems and advance universal health coverage. As of 2024, 38 of 47 Member States in the WHO African Region had adopted national digital health strategies, an important milestone aligned with the Global Strategy on Digital Health (2020–2027).

However, while this progress is promising, many strategies still overlook critical dimensions of gender, equity, and human rights. A recent report by the
University of ÌÇÐÄTV’s Digital Health and Rights Project (DHRP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) found that few national strategies explicitly address inequalities, ensure community participation, or consider the unique needs of marginalised populations. Without inclusive approaches, the rapid digital transformation of health systems risks deepening existing inequities.

To address this, the DHRP Consortium, in collaboration with WHO, is convening a series of regional webinars to foster dialogue, learning, and collaboration on integrating gender, equity and rights (GER) in digital health and AI for health.

We’re drawing on these tools:

- Our report, ‘Towards People-centred Digital Health Strategies: Gender, Equity, Rights and Inclusion’, which found that not one of the 20 national strategies
reviewed explicitly incorporated gender equality, human rights, or considerations for marginalized populations. This omission poses a significant
risk that digital transformation may exacerbate existing health inequities
- Our new handy collection of UN guidance on digital health, gender equality and human rights
- Checklists and other tools are on their way!

Webinar Series

We are doing three episodes, with the inaugural session focusing on the African region, where 38 of 47 Member States have now established national digital
health strategies.

Webinar 1: Strengthening Gender, Equity and Rights in National Digital Health Strategies in Africa

This will take place during the Digital Health Week!
Date: Thursday, 6 November 2025
Time: 14:00 – 15:30 GMT (15:00 CET / 16:00 EAT)
Platform: Online (Link provided upon registration)
Registration: https://forms.office.com/e/f4nCEPGeBc

Future Sessions in this Series:

Webinar 2: Strengthening Gender, Equity and Rights in National Digital Health Strategies in South-East Asia: 22 January 2026

Webinar 3: Strengthening Gender, Equity and Rights in National Digital Health Strategies in the Eastern Mediterranean/MENA region: 5 March 2026

Note: The registration link is valid for access to all the webinars in the series.

Please register and disseminate this invitation with others who may be interested!