Professional Affiliation

Lead Author, Wilson Center fellow

Expert Bio

Valerie Percival is an Associate Professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University. Her research focuses on the impact of violent conflict on the health of civilians, gender, health systems and policy networks. She is a Commissioner for The Lancet and the Swedish Institute for Global Health Transformation (SIGHT) Commission on Peaceful Societies through Health and Gender Equality, where she led the research and writing of the final Commission Report. In partnership with the Aga Khan Foundation of Canada, she is the Principal Investigator for GenLab – a Community of Practice in Mozambique to understand how gender norms influence access to and delivery of healthcare services. She has worked with the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, the International Crisis Group where she headed their Kosovo Office and UNHCR. She holds degrees from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Carleton University (NPSIA) and the University of Toronto.

Expertise

• Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding
• Disaster Management
• Gender
• Global Health
• International Development

Wilson Center Project

Promoting Gender Equality and Health Equity through Foreign Policy: Panacea or Fool’s Game?

Project Summary

This fellowship explores the challenges, barriers, risks, and opportunities inherent in promoting health equity and gender equality through foreign policy. The evidence is compelling. Higher levels of health equity and gender equality are associated with more peaceful and prosperous countries. Research shows that gender and health improvements transform social, political, and economic processes. These processes increase levels of beneficial social capital, generate inclusive economic growth, and strengthen governance structures. Yet Western-led efforts to promote gender equality and health equity can become politicized and provoke a backlash, endangering health services and women’s rights advocates. Through various forms of engagement with policy makers from the State Department, Washington’s international diplomatic community, as well as representatives of multilateral institutions, thinktanks and humanitarian and development organizations working in fragile contexts, this fellowship examines how to mitigate these risks to harness the potential of gender equality and health equity to contribute to more peaceful societies.

Major Publications

• Valerie Percival et al, "Final Report: The Lancet-SIGHT Commission on Peaceful Societies through Health and Gender Equality" forthcoming in The Lancet.
• Valerie Percival et al, "“Are health system interventions gender blind: examining health system re construction in conflict affected states” Globalization and Health, 14: 90 2018.
• Valerie Percival, “A Bridge to Peace? A Framework for Health Engagement During Conflict.” International Studies Review, (2017) pp. 1-22.

Previous Terms

Former Fellow, Associate Professor, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University