AstraZeneca Amplify Girls Voices and Unleash Their Power

For more than a decade, 11 October has marked International Day of The Girl as a day to amplify girls’ voices and unleash their power as global citizens.

 

At AstraZeneca, we are proud to recognise International Day of the Girl through the being the largest global supporter of the Girls Belong Here initiative, where we celebrate the power of girls while also highlighting the issues perpetuating gender inequality and preventing equitable access to opportunities.

Girls around the world face many barriers when it comes to achieving their full potential in life. In many contexts, healthcare services are not equitable and therefore girls face much greater obstacles to accessing their rights and making informed decisions about their life.

The COVID-19 pandemic in particular has taken its toll, disproportionately setting girls back. Particularly in low- and middle-income countries, measures to curb COVID-19 have disproportionately kept girls out of school and created additional obstacles for them to fulfil their education and obtain employment.¹

Women also continue to be underrepresented in senior leadership positions across industries, including in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).²

We believe that creating learning and career opportunities for young women can help improve their health in the long run, and give them a better chance of reaching their full potential.³

 

 

That’s why we’re taking bold action to build a brighter future by welcoming more than 100 young women from over 30 countries to participate in activities in our offices around the world. Through a series of “Girls Takeover” events, young women will step into our senior leadership positions for a day, share their views and engage on important health and sustainability topics. The engagement and support of these young women will extend beyond the Day of the Girl, with many receiving mentorships and coaching from our employees, joining career guidance programmes, and participating in activities such as roundtables and masterclasses.

“Girls have the power and freedom to learn, lead, decide and thrive,” Tresia, Girls Belong Here participant, Kenya

We believe that young people have the power and potential to shape a healthier future. By providing personal and professional development opportunities in addition to funding to help scale their ideas and initiatives, we can catalyse change on a broader scale. This year, through our Young Health Programme (YHP), we’ve awarded $160,000 USD in Step Up! grants to 16 small, women-led non-profit organisations around the world that are all working to achieve equitable access to healthcare and prevent non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among youth in their communities. Tackling non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is critical to advancing the health and development of women, which, at present, claims the lives of 18 million women annually.

We’ve also supported Scholarships for some of the most impactful young health leaders to attend the One Young World Summit and engage in topics including gender transformative programming and advancing health equity. Once they return home, each Scholar has been offered placement in an award-winning mini-MBA programme to continue their educational journey.

As a science-led company, we embrace the fact that diverse teams make better decisions and better represent the communities we serve. One of our core beliefs is that an inclusive environment enables us to unlock the potential in our current and prospective employees. At AstraZeneca, over half of our total workforce are women and we are working towards our 2025 aspiration of reaching gender equality in management roles by 2025, currently at 48.1%. We also offer dedicated training programmes to support and accelerate the career and personal goals of women in our company.

Together, through initiatives like Girls Belong Here, girls and business leaders can address key issues and work towards a more equal future.

 

 Learn more about the Girls Belong Here initiative and why we champion girls and young women at AstraZenenca in the below video:

 

 

 

 

References

1. 2020. Policy Brief: The Impact of COVID-19 on Women. [ePDF] United Nations. Available at https://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/report/policy-brief-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-women/policy-brief-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-women-en-1.pdf [Accessed on 7 October 2022].
2. 2021. Women in the Workplace – global (Quick Take). [Internet] Catalyst. Available at: https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-in-the-workforce-global/ [Accessed 7 October 2022].
3. Remme M, Vassall A, Fernando G, Bloom D. Investing in the health of girls and women: a best buy for sustainable development. BMJ [Internet]. 2020 [cited 7 October 2022];369(1175). Available at: https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1175.abstract
4. 2016. Woman and Non-Communicable Diseases. [ePDF] NDC Alliance. Available at: https://ncdalliance.org/sites/default/files/resource_files/Women%20and%20NCDs%20infographic_WEB_fv.pdf [Accessed 7 October 2022].