In recent years many countries have made efforts to devise policies more inclusive and more responsive to cultural differences. And, progressively, migrant groups have become more visible and more organized at the political level, enhancing their capacity to make political claims.  Equally, over the last decade, ‘gender and health’ has moved progressively from the margins of feminist activism to the mainstream of healthcare as gender has come to  be associated with men’s health as well as the health of women and health  ‘gender mainstreaming’ has become a policy imperative across Europe and beyond.  Increased sensitivity to gender and ethnicity in healthcare has occurred alongside significant changes in the governance of public sector services, in particular target setting, standardisation, and evidence-based health policies. Negotiations around gender and ethnic sensitivity in healthcare have therefore become increasingly complex and include a broader range of players including the state, professions, and civil society organisations.

Section 1 of the workshop will focus on gender and healthcare governance.  It will highlight the importance of researching links between different levels of governance such as the macro level of state policies, new governance practices at the meso or institutional level, and actor-centered changes (such as the activities of professional groups, and civil society groups such as patient groups) to understand the enabling conditions for and the barriers against the diffusion of gender mainstreaming policies into practice in different national contexts.  The composition of the medical workforce has long been highly associated with the nature and quality of the delivery of healthcare to women and more recently to men. This makes the recent worldwide trend of the so-called  ‘feminisation’ of medicine particularly important, leading to questions such as what is the importance of promoting women’s health and women doctors’ role in achieving gender equality in health?

Section 2 of the workshop addresses civil society, health and migrant associations. Since the health care system is a sector of public services which migrants are heavily dependent upon and, at the same time, is dominated by rules and practices often alien to immigrants’ cultural beliefs and customs, it is of interest to understand how public health institutions, national and local politicians, practitioners, nurses and health workers are engaged in guaranteeing the access of immigrants to health services; if they are trying to open a dialogue on different ways to intend concepts like illness and care; and, on the other hand, to what extent immigrants themselves, through their associations, and pro-migrant associations are involved in this process. Moreover, analysis of actors involved, of organizational forms and of aggregation criteria of associations and advocacy groups allows for a reflection on the extent to which migrants are able to exercise their citizenship rights in the establishment of health policies.