Gender and Immunization: Opportunities for Action [Course Materials]

"...we do have so many gender-related barriers, particularly [because] females are not decisions makers, [and there are] cultural and religious barrier[s] deteriorating vaccine acceptance. Hopefully we will learn to be part of multi-cultural world." - male participant from Afghanistan

Gender-related barriers can impede efforts to achieve high and equitable vaccination coverage. Knowing that greater gender equality is associated with improved immunisation coverage, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and key immunisation partners are working to improve awareness and understanding of how gender can affect immunisation outcomes and are dedicating resources to integrate gender throughout their immunisation programmes. As part of its commitment to advancing this knowledge base, in the summer of 2022, MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity developed a 4-session month-long course entitled "Gender and Immunization: Opportunities for Action."

The course materials - key readings, videos, and slides - are meant to serve as a practical reference to help inform and guide the work of immunisation professionals in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), global health students, programme implementers, and policymakers interested in gender mainstreaming in immunisation.

The course was held on the Sabin Vaccine Institute's Boost learning platform. The project developed a similar course for French-speaking participants, which was held in 2023. The overall goal of the course was to provide national and sub-national participants from LMICs with the knowledge, tools, skills, capacity, and confidence to reduce gender barriers to immunisation and document their efforts to advance this nascent and critical technical area. After completing this course, participants were expected to be able to: recognise gender barriers; develop and implement gender-responsive interventions; conduct practical monitoring, evaluation, and learning functions; document efforts to integrate gender into their immunisation activities; and find ways to support this work.

The sessions focus on:

• Session 1: How and Why Gender Impedes Immunization Coverage and Equity Goals
• Session 2: Identifying Challenges and Making the Case
• Session 3: Designing Gender-Sensitive Interventions and Taking Action for Change
• Session 4: Assessing Progress and Learning Together

The document linked to below includes each of the four sessions' learning objectives, descriptions, slide decks, lists of (with links to) key resources, and other relevant information taken directly from the course. While each of these tools and resources can be used as singular learning material, they work best when used together sequentially. The document also includes links to each guest speaker's recorded session on YouTube; the first-session recording is embedded below.