Why it must be a feminist global health agenda

In this Viewpoint, we outline how a feminist research agenda can advance gender equality in global health. First, feminist leadership requires more than gender quotas: it requires formal and informal cultural change within institutions across all areas of global health governance. Second, gender inequality cannot be addressed without tackling race and socioeconomic inequality; global health must be intersectional across research, programme delivery, and implementation. Third, global health is dependent on women in unpaid care roles, and this reality needs to be recognised and calculated, and the labour paid. Fourth, gender inequality is often informal, and diverse methods of research are required to expose, recognise, and address the informal and hidden ways in which inequality takes place. These four recommendations are fundamental to achieving women’s representation and gender-inclusive practices at every level of science, medicine, and global health.