Why ‘MenstruAction’ is a gender-transformative approach: BMZ and GIZ‘s commitment to a movement that has come a long way

May 21, 2023

Why ‘MenstruAction’ is a gender-transformative approach: BMZ and GIZ‘s commitment to a movement that has come a long way

How a neglected yet vital issue has climbed up the development agenda, why it matters and what still needs to be done.

India’s transgender people gain access to social health insurance

April 12, 2023

India’s transgender people gain access to social health insurance

In an inspiring example of Germany’s feminist development policy in action, the Indo-German Universal Health Coverage (IGUHC) project is supporting the Government of India to extend social health insurance to the transgender community, upholding their rights to free, quality health services.

Planting seeds of change in India: How communal gardening and learning about nutrition improves families’ lives and transforms gender roles

March 15, 2023

Planting seeds of change in India: How communal gardening and learning about nutrition improves families’ lives and transforms gender roles

In the central Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra a gender-transformative project is breaking the cycle of malnutrition to empower women, through knowledge and employment, to access a balanced range of nutritious home-grown foods for their children, themselves and their families.

Protecting mothers and newborns against the negative impacts of climate change

January 11, 2023

Protecting mothers and newborns against the negative impacts of climate change

Climate change is increasingly recognised as serious threat to human health with pregnant women and newborns amongst those most at risk. This, and how to mitigate the effects, was the topic of a roundtable discussion at the World Health Summit in Berlin in October 2022.

20th International Dialogue on Population and Sustainable Development

November 14, 2022

20th International Dialogue on Population and Sustainable Development

At the 20th International Dialogue on Population and Sustainable Development over 100 experts looked back and ahead on building resilience in the face of crises concerning sexual and reproductive health and rights.

  1. Home
  2. |
  3. Health Topics
  4. |
  5. Health and gender

Health and gender

Gender inequity and the stigmatisation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual/transgender, queer, intersexual and asexual persons as well as all other gender identities (LGBTQIA+) can threaten people‘s health and life.

Whether someone is born a man or a woman or an LGBTQIA+ person can impact individual freedoms, employment opportunities, salaries and more to this day. In many countries, women and LGBTQIA+ people also face restrictions on basic human rights such as freedom of expression, their right to education, protection from political persecution and their right to the highest attainable standard of health.  

In the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender inequity manifests itself, for example, wherever women are not free to choose whether to use contraception or whether to carry a pregnancy to term or have an abortion. Gender inequity also takes its toll where women and girls face stigma during their menstrual periods and lack sanitary conditions for menstrual hygiene; where they are exposed to domestic and sexual violence and lack access to emergency services for victims of such violence; and where harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, early marriage and early pregnancy threaten the health and lives of girls and young women. 

Where LGBTQIA+ persons are stigmatised and criminalised, this impedes their access to health services so that, for example, HIV infections cannot be detected and treated at an early stage. It also leads to them being disproportionately affected by physical and sexual violence.

Equal rights and equal opportunities for men and women, girls and boys and LGBTQIA+ persons are fundamental pillars of German development policy and a cross-cutting task for all areas of German development cooperation. The reports and toolkits below show how this commitment is being implemented.

Generation Dialogue Toolkit

Seven steps and many tools to address traditional practices that may cause harm.

Generation Dialogue Approach

Implementation experiences from different countries and continents.

icon_stories_black Stories


pub_icon Studies

Scroll to Top