Recap – Gender as a Dimension of Inclusive Innovation

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Published on June 21, 2024

On April 24, 2024, Dahdaleh adjunct faculty fellow Dr. Jean-Jacques Rousseau and development practitioner Devina Srivastava (Global Fellow, Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies, Brown University) discussed the importance of inclusive innovation as an under-utilized tool for policymakers to meet their goals of improved population-level outcomes in domains like education attainment, income and health. 

They spoke to the benefits of treating gender as a dimension of inclusive innovation and championed the need for implementation of gender-inclusive policies in global health. Devina emphasized the importance of gender-responsive policy that is inclusive and reflective of diverse demographic groups. She proposed that, “storytelling is a powerful tool in many contexts, as it can take the audience from current beliefs and practices to a new place. The key is to reach target audiences where they are and feel more comfortable to build trust.” for policy adjustments that incorporate gender-specific insights, ensuring healthcare services and interventions are accessible and non-discriminatory, regardless of gender identity. 

Jean-Jacques continued, holding that, “social justice dictates that improvements on an aggregate basis is not enough to declare success as the improvements may be for a small and unrepresentative segment of the population that benefits from highly disproportionate advantages. Inclusive innovation calls for broad-based benefits.” In the case of gender, he emphasized that funding and other policy interventions should be strategically directed toward revealing the nuances of gender health, allowing policy reforms to better support marginalized and enable tailored interventions that can significantly improve health outcomes across sub-populations. 

They shared the goal of their ongoing work to train health policymakers in the Global South to use disaggregated health data to consider the interactions between a person’s full range of her “dimensions of being”. This intersectional approach is especially important for understanding disparities in clinical drug trials, skincare products, and heart disease awareness. Jean-Jacques emphasized that inclusive clinical drug trials are crucial for developing more effective treatments for women, as historically, these trials have often underrepresented them, resulting in a lack of gender-specific data and less effective treatments. He also noted that skincare products frequently lack adequate testing for gender differences, and pointed out that heart disease awareness campaigns often overlook women, leading to delayed diagnoses and treatments. 

The seminar also identified public awareness campaigns as essential tools in educating communities on gender-related health risks and preventive measures. Devina suggested that such campaigns would reduce stigma and challenge stereotypes, particularly around conditions often misunderstood or misrepresented, ultimately fostering a more inclusive environment. The speakers concluded with a strong call for implementing systems that monitor and evaluate the impact of gender-specific interventions, advocating for the importance of disaggregating data by gender and other dimensions of inclusive innovation such as age, nationality, and other identity factors to identify disparities and improve healthcare outcomes. 

Watch the seminar presentation below:

Connect with Dr. Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Devina Srivastava

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