GENEVA, Switzerland – On the sidelines of the 79th World Health Assembly, UNFPA’s Coalition for Reproductive Justice in Business, the Permanent Mission of Finland in Geneva, and global management consulting firm Kearney, hosted a high-level side event to redefine the scope of investments for women’s health in the workplace.
The event, The Life Course Investment: Advancing Women’s Health in Business, brought together private sector leaders from Bayer, Kearney Merck, Microsoft, Nestlé and Roche to present evidence that investing in women’s lifelong health is a strategic necessity for economic growth and health equity.
Representatives from the Governments of Finland and Sweden underscored the role of the public sector in creating and enabling a policy environment to support the business sector in implementing sexual and reproductive health and rights policies in the workplace.
While women spend more than 40 per cent of their reproductive years in the workplace, employer support for their health and wellbeing has traditionally been limited. However, new data presented at the event by Kearney through the [w]Health Employer Index shows that favourable healthcare support can help increase productivity for up to 70 per cent of women in the workplace.
"We are here to shift the discourse toward systemic, life-course investments," said Mariarosa Cutillo, UNFPA Private Sector and Civil Society Branch Chief. "When we redesign workplaces with women's health in mind, we are building more resilient health systems and a more productive global economy".
The centrepiece of the event was a panel discussion that examined reproductive health through the lens of the life-course. Investing in women’s lifelong health is multifaceted, requiring support for menstrual health, creating policies that support modern fertility solutions and contraceptive access, and also supporting menopausal health.
A new standard for accountability
To move from awareness to action, the event underscored the importance of data. UNFPA officially welcomed Kearney as a new member of the Coalition. The partnership will focus on using UNFPA’s sexual and reproductive rights workplace scorecard and Kearney’s [w]Health Index to provide businesses with a roadmap for measurable, systemic change.
Paula Bellostas Muguerza, partner and global healthcare and life sciences lead at Kearney, said, “Too many organizations are still treating women’s health as a side conversation, despite its direct impact on productivity. Employers cannot afford to ignore the reality that millions of women are navigating health challenges that affect their experience at work every single day.”
Call to action for future-ready workplaces
The Coalition for Reproductive Justice in Business, led by UNFPA, is a multistakeholder network of employers, entrepreneurs, and leaders who recognize that reproductive health care is a fundamental right, and that the business community has a role to play in defending it. By joining the Coalition, organizations can advance sexual and reproductive health policies in the workplace. Learn more.
