Senegalese Minister of Health at the Ebola conference in Brussels, March 2015.Demotix/Aurore Belot. All rights reserved. Following an international conference on Ebola, the European Council has reiterated its “firm commitment” to ending the Ebola epidemic by getting new cases down to zero. More interesting than the principle of the commitment – which is both welcome and necessary - is the Council’s reference to the role of women and girls. In the statement, the Council:
“…underlines the importance of the Co-chairs' commitments to improve local and national governance, transparency and accountability, to provide for more inclusive and effective results in service delivery for citizens, including access for all to health and education, and to address the particular burden placed on women and girls as a result of the crisis.”
Such a focus is, on the surface at least, uncontroversial. Ebola has – alongside children and people with disabilities - had a particularly ruinous effect on the lives of women. However, while the focus on women is both welcome and necessary, the manner in which government, EU and global health institutions frame this focus is deeply problematic for several reasons.
