Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee
Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. Providing women and girls with equal access to education, health care, decent work, and representation in political and economic decision-making processes will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies and humanity at large. This is part of goal #5 of the United Nations “Sustainable Development” programme, which announces 17 goals to transform our world, and includes gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Most fundamentally is the obvious lack of women representation in decision and governance bodies worldwide, including the WFSA (gender ratio M:F at the Board 5:1, Council 11:4, which represents the elected ratios, committees chairs 8:1 and some committees varies more or less 8-14:0-4), despite a significant percentage of female members in national societies or regional societies. We consider that “gender equality is everyone’s business”. Consequently, it is WFSA business, too. Hence, the WFSA strives for gender and cultural balance in authority positions of any organization of the anaesthesiology family, including all committees.
The tasks of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee are:
1. To bring more awareness of and ensure gender balance within WFSA structure: national societies, regional sections, council, committees, WCA, academia, publications, advocacy, programmes.
2.To run a survey to investigate and to obtain more accurate data of the current status of gender balance in the WFSA, among board, councils and committees members and the societies/departments they represent or work and in anaesthesia trainees they supervised or teach.
3. To disseminate to national societies and regional sections the chapter on the gender gap in anaesthesiology in the E-book of Professional Wellbeing in Anesthesia.
4. To devise and implement support for women anaesthesiologists to participate in leadership training programmes.
5. To share this with other similar groups in different societies or regions (for instance, US Women in anaesthesiology; ASA and ESA gender issues Ad-hoc committees or groups).
6. To include something to this effect in the constitution: WFSA strives for gender and cultural balance in all Committees and governance positions.
7. To participate in gender balance forums, panels, meetings, plenary, etc., and to promote the inclusion, whenever possible, of these type of sessions in our anaesthesia meetings.
| Chair | ||
| Dr. | Carolina Haylock Loor | Honduras |
| Aus, NZ, Pacific | ||
| Dr. | Yuuji Fujino | Japan |
| Africa | ||
| Dr. | Bisola Onajin-Obembe | Nigeria |
| Central and South America, Mexico and the Caribbean Islands | ||
| Dr. | Gonzalo Barreiro | Uruguay |
| Middle East | ||
| Dr. | Patricia Yazbeck | Lebanon |
| Dr. | Fauzia Khan | Pakistan |
| Europe | ||
| Dr. | Jannicke Mellin-Olsen | Norway |
| Dr. | Daniela Filipescu | Romania |
| Dr. | Pierre Albaladejo | France |
| Dr. | Mio Milenovic | Serbia |