Promoting Gender Responsive Policies and Programmes for CHWs in Sudan Poster

Using the Promoting Gender Responsive Policies and Programmes for Community Health Workers: A Gender Analysis Framework to assess the CHW programme in Blue Nile State, Sudan, for Gender Equity

This poster was presented by Habob Modawy Emam, World Vision Sudan, at the 4th International Community Health Workers Symposium in November 2025.

World Vision applied its Gender Analysis Framework in Blue Nile State, Sudan, to assess how well the community health worker programme promotes gender equity.

World Vision Sudan conducted a gender analysis of the Community Health Worker (CHW) programme in Blue Nile State using the Promoting Gender Responsive Policies and Programmes for Community Health Workers: A Gender Analysis Framework. This tool, developed by World Vision and partners in 2019, helps assess how CHW programmes incorporate gender equity principles across four domains – access to resources, distribution of labour, norms and beliefs, and decision-making power – and is structured around the 15 policy recommendations of the 2018 WHO guideline on optimising CHW programmes.

Through six mini-workshops with 66 participants, including 45 CHWs, and supporting document review, the assessment revealed that 14 of 15 policy categories scored within the “functional” range for gender responsiveness. The exception, selection for pre-service training, highlighted remaining inequities in recruiting female CHWs.

Overall, the results show that the CHW programme in Blue Nile State is moving steadily towards gender equity but continues to face structural and cultural barriers. The framework’s descriptive scoring has provided concrete insights for improvement, and World Vision Sudan is developing action plans to address gaps and further strengthen gender-responsive community health systems.