By Philipp Hessel PhD, MSc, MA 

Women’s involvement in politics can have sizeable and positive effects on health, stressing the need for women's leadership in policymaking and the design of health strategies.

Ensuring women’s full and effective participation at all levels of decision-making and sectors of society is one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and increasingly a target of public policies and approaches, such as microcredit programs that see the benefits of women's financial freedom for broader communities. Gender equality is a fundamental human right, but beyond being the “right thing to do” morally, empowering women and girls is also the “right thing to do” for societies. Women’s active and equitable participation in political arenas, labor forces, and education grows economies, reduces poverty and household income inequality, and improves health outcomes. A greater involvement of women in political decision-making is also linked to larger investments in education, healthcare and other social programs.

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On average, a 1 percent increase in the share of female electoral candidates led to a reduction of infant mortality of 0.8 percent and a reduction of mortality among women by 0.13 percent.

Furthermore, we are also able to show that increases in the share of female candidates had positive effects on the percentage of the population covered by universal primary care (Programa Saúde da Família), as well as coverage rates of the national conditional cash transfer program (Bolsa Família). Women’s influence promoting these two programs is likely a mechanism for how women’s political empowerment translates into improvements to population health outcomes. 

Women’s involvement in politics can have sizeable and positive effects on health, stressing the need for women's leadership in policymaking and the design of health strategies. Doing so can reduce larger societal inequalities and enhance the delivery of essential programs. 

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This post was written by Philipp Hessel of Universidade de Los Andes (Colombia) as a guest contribution to Cities, Sectors, and Health, run by the SALURBAL Project. To contact the blog or learn more about the SALURBAL project email salurbal@drexel.edu