Episode: 3 Part 2

Podcast Title: Power Of...  

Episode Title: Feminist Leadership Beyond Gender Binaries: Perspectives from Guyana – Part 2

Tune in to the Power Of…podcast, a series that dives into critical, thought-provoking, and contemporary content to drive gender equality and improve global health. Johanna Riha hosts this podcast and works at the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health in Malaysia, where she is passionate about seeing true transformation occur in these areas. 

While improving the representation of women in leadership roles is one important step toward institutionalising change towards gender equality and women’s empowerment in health, deep seated patriarchal norms mean we need more than gender parity, we need leadership that goes beyond gender binaries and authority, to responsibility grounded in feminist principles and values. In this mini-series, Johanna continues conversations with Kobe Smith on the power of feminist leadership. Kobe is a young, black Guyanese male leader, who has held various local, regional and international leadership positions. 

In the previous episode Kobe shared what feminist leadership means to him and insights from his roles in various leadership positions, highlighting the importance of leadership that champions responsibility, inclusivity, and representation for achieving gender equality and global health equity. 

In this episode, the conversation continues as Johanna asks Kobe how he remains grounded and focused staying true to feminist principles and values, given his different roles in positions of power and-decision making. Kobe explains that he continues to be motivated and inspired by personal relationships and experiences. For Kobe, feminist leadership is about being empathic to friends, family and others who may need care and support and being mindful how decisions may affect their lives. He also discusses the importance of finding meaning in work, but also prioritising self-care, which includes mental, physical and emotional dimensions of one’s wellbeing. As the episode concludes, Kobe discusses how we can do more for communities of people through feminist leadership if we consult and really try to understand the needs, the aspirations, the desires of the people we're trying to serve. He encourages as to ask, “When we sit down in rooms to craft policies and programs, are we engaging the youth? Are we engaging gender diverse people? Are we engaging persons who have health challenges? Why I say consult and engage - it really helps us to be more informed. And yes, consulting can take time. It can also take money. But it's better to consult than to take a decision that is not meaningful, that is not sustainable, that is not impactful.”  

This marks the end of the mini-series on the power of feminist leadership. If you haven’t already, listen to the first part of the conversation with Kobe and read Srilatha Batliwala’s think piece on feminist leadership – what it is and why it matters.  

This episode is dedicated to the memory of Kobe’s mother, who shaped him to become the leader he is today.  

Please keep liking, sharing, and subscribe! 

Links:

Download the Think Piece  

Visit our website  

Learn more about Johanna Riha   

Check out the Gender and Health Hub website...

Episode: 3 Part 1

Podcast Title: Power Of...  

Episode Title: Feminist Leadership Beyond Gender Binaries: Perspectives from Guyana – Part 1

Welcome to the Power Of…podcast, with host Johanna Riha. Working at the Gender and Health Hub at the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health in Malaysia, Johanna is passionate about stimulating critical, thought provoking, and contemporary conversations that aim to drive gender equality in global health. In the previous two episodes, we heard from Simone Hill, a lesbian activist and founder of PETAL, Promoting Empowerment Through Awareness for Lesbian and bisexual women in Belize, about her leadership journey and experiences. In the next two episodes, Johanna continues on the theme of the power of feminist leadership, countering the misconception that feminist leadership is solely about women’s leadership. 

In these episodes, Johanna speaks with Kobe Smith, a young male leader from Guyana who has held various local, regional and international leadership positions, including being the co-founder and Vice President of the Sustainable Youth Network in Guyana, Director of the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition, and a member of Fos Feminista's Board of Directors, co-chairing its advocacy committee.   

To kick off the conversation, Johanna asks Kobe what feminist leadership means to him and how he feels about the label of feminist leadership. In response, Kobe highlights the importance of having these conversations with men and boys who may be working to advance health equity but might not view themselves as feminist leaders. Kobe shares that his journey as a feminist leader was motivated by personal experiences and in particular the loss of his mother to ovarian cancer due to insufficient and inadequate health services. This experience made him realise the devastating effects of social inequalities on one’s health. Since then, Kobe has actively worked towards addressing the unmet health needs of vulnerable populations, such as women, girls, LGBTQ+ individuals, and others. For Kobe, feminist leadership is informed by personal experiences, but also it is also about centering the lived experiences of those who have been marginalised, to ensure health for all. Kobe further explains that this is accomplished through collective action to develop responsive programmes and discusses the significance of providing flexible funding to grassroots organisations to ensure the delivery of essential services. 

As the conversation continues, Johanna asks about the challenges of deep rooted harmful social norms within organisations, including those working towards social justice, and how these may be overcome. In response, Kobe discusses that feminist organisations are not free from challenges, as all humans bring their own traumas into a space and may perpetuate the inequalities they aim to address. He stresses the responsibility of the organisation to ensure accountability and maintain high standards of conduct. As the episode concludes, Kobe further emphasizes the need for meaningful and non-tokenistic diversity and inclusion within leadership boards to better represent and serve the communities they aim to support. 

This episode is dedicated to Kobe’s mother. 

Look out for the next episode where Kobe will continue to share his story and discuss the importance of wellness and staying grounded when serving in positions of power.  

In the meantime please like, share, and subscribe! 

Links: Download the Think Piece  

Visit our website  

Learn more...

Episode: 2 Part 2 

Podcast Title: Power Of...  

Episode Title: Feminist Leadership Beyond Gender Binaries: Perspectives from Belize – Part 2

Welcome to the Power Of…, a production by the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH). In this collection of conversations, we dive into critical, thought-provoking, and contemporary content to stimulate debate and dialogue with the aim of driving gender equality in global health. Host, Johanna Riha, works at UNU-IIGH in Malaysia and is passionate that the bold commitments towards gender equality in health be met with commensurate action.

In this mini-series, Johanna focuses on the power of the feminist leadership and how this type of transformative leadership can be used to advance gender equality and health equity. In this episode, Johanne continues to speak with Simone Hill, founder of the organisation, Promoting Empowerment Through Awareness for Lesbian and Bisexual women (PETAL), in Belize.

Simone shares her experiences and the challenges she confronted, both in her personal life and those faced by PETAL, in efforts to advocate for the rights of lesbian and bisexual women in Belize. At the start of the episode, Simone candidly discusses the discrimination and difficulties she and her family encountered after publicly coming out as a member of the LGBT+ community on national television. However, she explains that her resilience, knowledge and previous achievements continue to motivate her to overcome challenges and work to fight ongoing discrimination.

As the conversation continues, Simone highlights the need to empower women through education, especially in light of challenges posed in the current climate of regression of women and LGBT+ rights, both within Belize and globally. As she contemplates these issues, she further discusses interconnecting issues around patriarchal power, trauma and the limits of gender parity in leadership, and emphasizes the importance of empathy, reflexivity and inclusivity to overcome these challenges at an individual and organizational level. Through this approach PETAL has achieved various successful outcomes including providing mental health support and legal assistance to lesbian and bisexual women in need.

The episode concludes with Simone discussing ongoing efforts of self-improvement and growth to advance the rights and well-being of lesbian and bisexual women in Belize, including pursuing higher education and studying law in Barbados to better serve her community. Simone is a trail-blazer and continuously looking to grow and better herself. Listen in to Part 1 of her story if you missed it.

In the next two episodes we’ll hear from Kobe Smith, a young male leader from Guyana as he shares how he understands and practices feminist leadership to improve health and wellbeing for women, girls and structurally marginalized populations in Guyana and globally.

In the meantime please like, share, and subscribe! 

Links: Download the Think Piece  

Visit our website  

Learn more about Johanna Riha   

Check out the Gender and Health Hub website  

Follow the UNU International Institute for Global Health on Twitter  

Follow the Gender and Health Hub on

Episode: 2 Part 1 

Podcast Title: Power Of...  

Episode Title: Feminist Leadership Beyond Gender Binaries: Perspectives from Belize – Part 1

Tune in to the Power Of… Podcast, a conversation that dives into critical, thought-provoking, and contemporary content to drive gender equality and global health. Johanna Riha hosts this podcast and works at the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health in Malaysia—she is passionate about seeing true transformation occur in these areas.

In this mini-series, Johanna continues conversations on the power of feminist leadership and how this type of transformative leadership can be used to advance gender equality and health equity. Through this series, Johanna aims to facilitate critical conversations, on what feminist leadership is, its relevance in the current social, political and economic climate, and how it is practiced in different contexts. The first episode set the tone by centering the discussion around the think piece on the topic of feminist leadership authored by Srilatha Batliwala, a senior advisor on Knowledge Building at Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action (CREA), and an exceptional group of panellists who shared their thoughts and experiences on implementing feminist leadership into their practices.

In upcoming episodes, the focus shifts towards debunking widespread misconceptions concerning feminist leadership being synonymous with ‘women’s leadership’ by exploring what it means to LGBT+ leaders and men. Over the next two episodes, Johanna talks with Simone Hill, founder of the organisation, Promoting Empowerment Through Awareness for Lesbian and bisexual women (PETAL), in Belize. In this first episode, Simone begins by sharing how her incredibly rich leadership journey started, how she was a reluctant leader who founded PETAL because she recognised the high levels of discrimination lesbian and bisexual women were facing in Belize and the lack of organisations supporting their rights.

She goes on to explain how the organisation has grown and what her leadership style is like. Simone describes herself as a laissez-faire leader who proactively includes diverse opinions, she is also transparent and has moved away from competitive leadership to one that focuses on the greater good. Simone has also been very conscious of the need to look after the well-being of staff, especially in the current climate where funding is scarce and there is increasing hostility towards LGBT+ groups. As the episode ends, Simone describes how easy it is to unconsciously reinforce harmful patriarchal norms and stereotypes and stresses the importance of being self-reflective and empathetic to change oneself for the better.

Look out for the next episode where Simone continues to share her story, the challenges PETAL has faced and how she has grown as an individual and a leader. In the meantime please like, share, and subscribe! 

Links: Download the Think Piece  

Visit our website  

Learn more about Johanna Riha   

Check out the Gender and Health Hub website  

Follow the UNU International Institute for Global Health on Twitter  

Follow the Gender and Health Hub on Twitter  

Send in...

Episode: 1 

Podcast Title: Power Of...  

Episode Title: The Power of Feminist Leadership: From Rhetoric to Action

Welcome to the Power Of…podcast series, a production by the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH). In this collection of conversations, we dive into critical, thought-provoking, and contemporary content to stimulate debate and dialogue with the aim of driving gender equality in global health.  Host, Johanna Riha, works at the UNU-IIGH in Malaysia and is passionate that the bold commitments towards gender equality in health be met with commensurate action.  

In this mini-series, Johanna focuses on the power of the feminist leadership and how this type of transformative leadership can be used to advance gender equality and health equity. In this episode, you will hear more about what feminist leadership is and why it is important, as well as practical examples from those who have been striving to put feminist leadership into practice. At the start of the episode Srilatha Batliwala, senior advisor on Knowledge Building at Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action (CREA), introduces the think piece she authored on the value of transformative feminist leadership in global health. Srilatha highlights that feminist leadership is a good starting point to facilitate the kind of change needed to transform deeply imbedded power structures. This is because, fundamentally, feminist leadership is a process of self-transformation, one which recognises that to achieve the type of social transformation and justice we advocate for, we need to engage and mobilise individual and collective power to dismantle oppressive power structures to build a better world for all. However, as Srilatha points out, this may seem simple, yet there are many challenges to overcome. Leadership is not practiced in a vacuum – we need to address the organisational deep structures and practices which serve to (unconsciously) reproduce biases and hierarchies within organisational spaces. To better understand the navigation and action required to advance deep organisational transformation, Srilatha discusses the application of the Gender at Work framework which highlights the interlinkages between gender equality, institutional change and institutional practices which are framed by power dynamics. The framework is divided into 4 quadrants focusing on the informal to formal on the x-axis and the individual to systemic on the y-axis. To transform organisations, we can use the framework to uncover what changes are needed within each quadrant and identify opportunities and barriers to achieving gender equality.  

Following this, an amazing group of panellists – Rudo Chigudu, a Zimbabwean feminist, activist, artist and current board member of Zimbabwe's Women's Resource Centre Network, Bettina Baldeschi, the CEO of the International Women's Development Agency in Australia and Lucy Kombe, a women's rights advocate and program assistant at Zamara Foundation in Kenya – share their thoughts and experiences on implementing feminist leadership within themselves and the spaces they work in. For example, Rudo shares how her experiences working in a feminist organisation led her on a journey of self-transformation to question her own biases, insecurities and reactions following rising tensions within the organisation. As Rudo states: ‘It doesn't matter what the space is, you carry yourself whatever space you end up in... if we really want them to transform, we really hope for that kind of transformation, how do we get to the individual being?’.Similarly, Bettina reflects on the role she followed as a CEO when confronted with accusations of racism within her organisation and how her perceptions and actions changed once she stopped ‘listening with her head’ and learned to ‘listen with her heart’...

Episode: 3 

Podcast Title: Power Of...  

Episode Title: The Power of the Collective: UN System Coordination for Gender Equality

Tune in to the Power Of… Podcast, a conversation that dives into critical, thought-provoking, and contemporary content to drive gender equality and global health. Johanna Riha hosts this podcast and works at the United Nations University in Malaysia—she is passionate about seeing true transformation occur in these areas.

In this episode, Johanna continues the conversation on the power of the collective and is joined by Florence Hamimi, the Coordinator Advisor and Deputy Director of the Coordination Division in UN Women. Florence starts the conversation by sharing that her interest and passion for coordination came from seeing how effectively North African civil society actors worked together to drive change and advance gender issues in the region.

Florence then goes on to share her reflections on the think piece authored by Zineb Touimi Benjelloun and Joanne Sandler beginning with her thoughts on two of the obstacles mentioned in the think piece: 1) size and status mattering more than technical expertise and 2) the ‘high cost of coordination.’ Florence reiterates that despite the triple mandate of the UN women and their skills and legitimacy to coordinate gender equality and women’s empowerment across the UN system, there is a lack of recognition of the role and responsibility of coordination entails, especially at the country level. Florence also shares her views that if coordination is done well it should actually reduce costs, highlighting the need to improve reporting and accountability mechanisms to assess the actual cost of coordination in relation to the impact. Florence raises a third obstacle she believes needs to be considered – the competing thematic interests and prioritisation of different population groups vis-à-vis gender equality and women’s empowerment. She points out that issues on gender equality for women and girls are often framed as if they relate to a minority group, when in fact women and girls make up half of the global population.

 As the conversation continues, Johanna notes that the UN’s gender architecture is currently under review and asks Florence what points the review should focus on and interrogate to ensure that gender equality architecture is strengthened across the UN. Florence provides four points that she would like to see highlighted in the review, namely: 1) enhancing, clarifying and strengthening UN Women’s coordination mandate, 2) more clearly delineating and articulating what coordination means and looks like at the different levels of the UN system (global, regional, and country-level), 3) improving existing accountability mechanisms within the system, and 4) providing more evidence on the costs and potential cost-benefits of coordination.

In line with this, issues around accountability were raised – specifically, what steps can and should be taken to improve existing accountability structures to improve collective action, rather than create new ones. Florence points out that we should move beyond simply telling people that they are accountable, but rather we need to ensure that they know where to access accountability tools and that they have the technical expertise to implement these tools effectively to enhance a gender-based approach.

In conclusion, Johanna asks Florence how the UN can be more inclusive of feminist civil society actors – not only in terms of their role as implementers, but also how the UN can learn from their experience and expertise when it comes to coordination and collective action. In response, Florence states that there is a need to draw on feminist expertise to transform the current hierarchical culture of the UN system to incorporate and develop horizontal leadership structures. She ends off by stating that

Episode: 2 

Podcast Title: Power Of...  

Episode Title: The Power of the Collective: Country Level Perspectives from Honduras 

Welcome to the Power Of…podcast series, a production by the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH). In this collection of conversations, we dive into critical, thought-provoking, and contemporary content to stimulate debate and dialogue with the aim of driving gender equality in global health.  Host, Johanna Riha, works at the UNU-IIGH in Malaysia and is passionate that the bold commitments towards gender equality in health must be met with changes to the underlying structural and systemic drivers for true transformation to occur.  

In this mini-series, Johanna focuses on the power of the collective and explores how collective action is currently framed in the UN to advance gender equality and how this could be enhanced. In the last episode, Johanna was joined by Zineb Touimi Benjelloun and Joanne Sandler to discuss the think piece they co-authored titled ‘Collective power for gender equality: An unfinished agenda for the UN’. This week Johanna engages with guest speakers Xiomara Bu, the National Coordinator of Forosida, theNational HIV/AIDS Forum Association in Honduras and Alice Shackleford, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System in Honduras, to continue the conversation by discussing what collective power for gender equality means at the country level within and outside of the UN system.  

Johanna begins the conversation by asking her guests to reflect on what critical factors they believe are necessary for promoting better collective action on gender equality at country level. Alice starts by explaining that leadership and political commitment, especially at the higher levels of authority across all UN agencies, are essential in facilitating a cultural change to advance gender equality. Xiomara goes on to highlight the need to recognize that the rights of women and girls are also human rights which are fundamental to drive action. To this point, Xiomara emphasises the need to improve government accountability and leadership. According to Xiomara, building relationships with different actors is also essential as collaboration with political, faith-based, human rights and community organisations, allows the pooling of resources to address the embedded social factors which can improve the lives of women and girls. Within this context, organisations like the UN play a key role in building capacities and can use their position to influence change. However, there is a need to improve dialogue and communication across the UN system. Additionally, Alice explains that we need to counter the current approach whereby organisations and sectors differently frame the issue of gender inequality. This division of an interwoven, multidimensional issue defeats the collective power that can and needs to be mobilised for change. Alice insists that we all must build better collective visions with a more holistic view of what gender equality looks like and means and not separate out and piece-meal solutions.     

The guests then go on to discuss lessons learnt from the UN-EU Spotlight Initiative, which is the world's largest targeted effort to end all forms of violence against women and girls. Xiomara, shared her views as a member of the Spotlight Initiative Civil Society National Reference Group, and Alice, through her role as Resident Coordinator responsible for leading this country-level implementation of the Spotlight Initiative. 

As the episode draws to a close, our guests discuss some practical steps the UN can take at country level to support and advance collective efforts for gender equality. These include: 1) the need for a cultural change within the UN system with leaders...

Podcast Title: Power Of...  

Episode Title: The Power of the Collective: Collective Power for Gender Equality - An Unfinished Agenda for the UN 

Welcome to the Power Of…podcast series, a production by the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH). In this collection of conversations, we dive into critical, thought-provoking, and contemporary content to stimulate debate and dialogue with the aim of driving gender equality in global health.  Host, Johanna Riha, works at the UNU-IIGH in Malaysia and is passionate that the bold commitments towards gender equality in health must be met with changes to the underlying structural and systemic drivers for true transformation to occur.  

In this mini-series, Johanna focuses on the power of the collective and explores how collective action currently is framed in the UN to advance gender equality and how this could be enhanced. In this episode Johanna is joined by guests Zineb Touimi Benjelloun and Joanne Sandler, who co-authored a think piece on the topic based on decades of experience working within the UN. In their think piece, Zineb and Joanne reflect on the role the UN has played in advancing gender equality through coordination among the different levels UN agencies work on – however the UN has yet to fully utilize its collective power to advance gender equality, especially as it relates to global health. The think piece therefore sets out to stimulate honest and critical discussions on the nature of collective action in the UN and highlight the need to re-think what collective action in the UN should entail, drawing on lessons from feminist principles and action.  

As the episode kicks off, Zineb and Joanne share that the current piece was inspired by their involvement in the UNU-IIGH Gender and Health Hub’s ‘What Works in Gender and Health in the UN' project, which involved interviews across 5 UN agencies (see link below). As Joanne mentions, it was striking that collaboration, coordination and cooperation were rarely referred to or mentioned during interviews, considering the time, tools and investment spent in improving coordination across the UN over the last few decades. This catalyzed their inquiry into why coordination was not more widely reported as a critical ingredient of success despite the millions invested. 

As the episode progresses, Zineb and Joanne reflect on these questions and discuss how coordination is supported in the UN and what impedes this. They describe three enabling factors: (1) a shared vision on gender equality crafted by multiple stakeholders, (2), the pooling of UN non-financial resources and capacities to establish minimum standards for performance on gender equality and (3) the availability of donor resources to support coordinated action. Following this, they talk through five challenges they identified which disrupt coordination: (1) a pay-to-play approach in which competition for funding discourages collaboration, (2) situations where size and status matter more than expertise which results in quality gender experts being excluded despite their technical expertise, (3) a follow the leader approach which runs counter to what is learned from feminist action of collaboration, of horizontal collaboration and accountability, (4) the high cost of coordination, and (5) the UN as a members-only club. Lastly, Joanne and Zineb propose five ideas for strengthening collective action on gender equality, learning from feminist principles and action: (1) Reframe notions of top-down coordination, (2) Re-think notions of inclusion, (3) Re-prioritise what aspects of the UN’s work on gender equality require a collective approach, (4) Resource the UN’s backbone for gender equality to build a world class gender architecture, and lastly (5) is to Re-negotiate ideas about...