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The humanitarian sector is often thought of as a neutral force, dedicated to helping those affected by crises and disasters. Yet behind the scenes, the industry struggles with significant gender imbalance – particularly at a leadership level. This article explores the lack of female representation in this environment and why it´s important to achieve gender parity.
Women are essential to frontline humanitarian efforts—they make up over 40% of those providing direct aid during crises, through service delivery, education and capacity strengthening, advocacy, and research. However, when it comes to leadership positions, their numbers drop significantly. Within the United Nations (UN), widely recognized as the world’s leading humanitarian organization, women hold 70% of entry-level jobs, but only 37% of senior decision-making roles. Among the UN’s 37 senior humanitarian coordinators, just 10 are women, which is only about 27% (United Nations, 2022; Haack & Karns, 2023). It´s an imbalance that reflects deep-rooted structural barriers that limit women’s influence in shaping the very crisis they are so integral in managing.
So, what´s causing this gap? Women face a myriad of obstacles on their journey to higher ranks. The culture within many humanitarian organizations tends to be male-dominated, often reflecting outdated patriarchal norms that discourage women from moving up, with barriers such as the “motherhood penalty”, where women are penalized professionally for trying to balance family responsibilities and career aspirations, and inadequate guidance and mentoring.
Despite the magnitude of this issue, research focused specifically on women in humanitarian leadership is surprisingly limited. Many large-scale studies on gender gaps in leadership have sidestepped humanitarian organizations, focusing on the corporate, political, or general non-profit sector. This makes it challenging to fully grasp and address the unique challenges women face in humanitarian contexts (Humanitarian Advisory Group, 2020). Nevertheless, the available data is already clear on one thing: Gender-inclusive leadership can be transformative.
Evidence suggests women leaders tend to prioritize protection against gender-based violence, healthcare, nutrition, and education access—key elements for supporting women and girls, who are disproportionately affected during crises. Limited healthcare access increases risks for mothers and infants, while gender-based violence, including forced marriage, often rises sharply. Economic pressures push women into poorly paid or exploitative work, and families pull girls from school, narrowing their future opportunities. Would a more diverse leadership in humanitarian organizations put these issues at the front of the global agenda?
Data from the Global Response Tracker indicates that countries with more gender-equal leadership are more likely to adopt policies that support gender-sensitive initiatives (UN Women, 2022; CARE, 2024). By creating pathways for women to advance into leadership roles, we can improve not only gender equity but also the overall effectiveness of humanitarian interventions (World Food Programme, 2022; Humanitarian Advisory Group, 2020). Ultimately, promoting gender diversity isn’t just about fairness; it’s about building a crisis response that truly reflects the needs and realities of everyone affected.
Natasha Cooper
Hi Natasha! Thank you for raising such an important and relevant topic!
Your post made me reflect on how, in conflict, post-conflict, and emergency contexts, having women leaders at the forefront of crises is crucial for ensuring the information flow to half of the population.
In certain contexts and cultures, women may feel comfortable communicating only with other women, which means our needs risk remaining invisible and unaddressed. That is highly critical in situations of GBV, and sexual abuse, as addressed by the UN 1325.
Unfortunately, as you have mentioned, the gender perspective of this resolution is not fully integrated across the entire UN system.
Eva
Hi Eva! You raise a very relevant point. In crises, providing aid requires a conversation with those affected about the difficulties they face, and as you mention, often women may only feel comfortable sharing these concerns with other women. This raises questions about the effectiveness of humanitarian responses when there is a lack of inclusivity.
Hi there!
Very important post on the gender imbalance in humanitarian leadership! It was surprising to learn about the significant disparity, especially given the crucial role women play in frontline humanitarian efforts. The exploration of the structural barriers and inadequate mentoring, really highlighted the challenges women face in advancing to leadership positions.
I was particularly baffled by the statistics regarding employment in the UN, especially the reasons behind this imbalance. Learning that women hold 70% of entry-level jobs but only 37% of senior decision-making roles was eye-opening. It makes me wonder how many women quit because of the toxic, male-dominated company culture, and what kind of impact gender has on the recruitment process, especially in this kind of environment. I’m just at the beginning of my professional career, so so far I haven’t thought about senior positions, but it’s a very important observation for the future.
The last sentence of your post is so powerful: “Ultimately, promoting gender diversity isn’t just about fairness; it’s about building a crisis response that truly reflects the needs and realities of everyone affected.” It shows that the gender gap is not about statistics and parity —it’s about the goals that can only be achieved if women are included in the discussion and action.
Thank you for this post.
All the best, Julia from Group 2
It´s hard to ignore the lack of female representation in leadership positions globally, especially given the recent US elections, but personally it no longer surprises me. What did catch me off guard was the situation in the humanitarian sector, and I was equally baffled by the employment statistics in the UN. Some papers suggest that having more women in leadership positions would improve the quality of crisis responses because of their unique capabilities, and others argue that simply having a gender balance is what would make interventions better. In either case, it´s agreed that including more women in the discussion would have a strong positive impact.
Thank you for your insight Julia.
Wow, great post Natasha! Sometimes I see how many women are in development studies (consider, for example, how the ComDev class we are in is primarily women), yet we don’t see then in those higher-level positions. I wonder if it’s because it is only recently that we began to see women taking on larger roles in the development sector, and they just haven’t been in the field long enough to reach those higher roles. Or have we made no progress at all? I choose to believe we are making positive strides, but the statistics show we have a long way to go still. Well written, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for commenting Jessica! The strong female presence in our ComDev class is exactly what inspired me to write about this topic in the first place. Women only recently taking on larger roles could definitely be one of the many reasons for this gender imbalance, but it remains hard to pinpoint due to the lack of research on the matter. Some of the studies I did find, as well as the women I interviewed, listed a lack of training as a notable barrier for women accessing leadership positions in the field. Overall, I would say there has been progress, both in the humanitarian sector and on a societal level. Although slow, I do agree we are making positive strides.