Health and humanitarian systems are powered by women’s labor — as doctors, nurses, community health
workers, and caregivers. This is one of the sector’s greatest strengths, and its fullest potential is yet to be
realized: women remain underrepresented in leadership and decision-making, and their work is too often
framed as service or sacrifice rather than the skilled, political labor it is. India’s ASHA workers, for instance,
proved indispensable during COVID-19 — a powerful demonstration of what community health leadership can
achieve, and a compelling case for the recognition and investment that should follow. Expanding access to
education and public participation, including in contexts such as Afghanistan, is central to strengthening the
long-term resilience of the systems women sustain. The panel examines the political economy of care work
and asks how humanitarian and health systems can harness this expertise fully: who defines priorities, whose
knowledge counts, and what more equitable models of leadership and labor look like in practice.
