Women driving change in leadership and research

Published

March 4, 2026

Ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March, Danida Fellowship Centre wishes to spotlight our efforts to strengthen the role of women in leadership and research in Denmark’s development cooperation activities.

Globally, women hold only around 6 % of CEO roles and 27 % of board positions (ILO), and make up just one-third of all researchers (ISC). Addressing this imbalance is fundamental to creating inclusive, effective institutions and carrying out research that works for everyone.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark recognises the value of gender-balanced teams and the inclusion of gender sensitive perspectives in research as a critical driver for innovation and sustainable solutions and therefore actively encourages female researchers to apply as leads for development research grants. Against this backdrop, Danida Fellowship Centre offers learning and engagement activities to strengthen women’s leadership in research and across the public, private and civil society sectors.

In this newsletter, we share examples of these initiatives and show how they enable women to lead, influence and drive lasting change in research and sustainable development.

You can read about the activities in the articles listed below

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Why more women in health research matters

Danida Fellows Network

04-03-26

Why more women in health research matters

Why does it matter who does healthcare research – and who the research is about? The answer is that it affects what questions are asked and which health problems receive attention. In a new research paper, two Danida-funded researchers, Christina Anne Vinter and Ditte Søndergaard Linde together with their colleague Lone Kjeld Petersen show how gender gaps in leadership and research priorities still influence global health. By Elena Adamo

Join the More Women in Research Community

Danida Fellows Network

03-03-26

Join the More Women in Research Community

Join the community Whether you are a female Danida fellow or a woman researcher elsewhere, you are warmly invited to join the conversation, help amplify the manifesto, and support the implementation of its recommendations in your own context – whether at university level or within other institutions, backed by a range of stakeholder groups.

Get Funded: Understanding Research Grants

Danida Fellows Network

02-03-26

Get Funded: Understanding Research Grants

(This session has already happened. Watch the recording here)

Women researchers and academics around the world – this one’s for you!

Danida Fellows Network

30-01-26

Women researchers and academics around the world – this one’s for you!

The world needs more women in research. That’s why Danida Fellowship Centre and the Mawazo Institute are launching “More Women in Research: Learn and Lead Together”. It is a new initiative offering learning events, collaboration and mentorship for women researchers worldwide.

Danida Fellows Network

26-11-25

Learning and leading together

In this newsletter, we have compiled a selection of stories that explore how networks and collaborative learning can open up new ways of understanding and responding to today’s global challenges. We hope these stories will offer both inspiration and insight into how collaborative learning approaches can become powerful drivers of change when adopted by networks and the people who lead them By Sophie Amalie Eiholm Kjær

Danida Fellows Network

25-11-25

A journey of rethinking leadership

Reagan Muyinda had already achieved a lot as a young leader, passionate about collaboration and change. Still, he found himself questioning what real leadership looks like. At Danida Fellowship Centre’s Network Leaders Convening in Arusha in 2024, four days of shared learning set him off on a new journey that transformed his view and practice of leadership and growth. By Vibeke Quaade

Lessons from cross-network collaboration on water resource management

Danida Fellows Network

25-11-25

Lessons from cross-network collaboration on water resource management

By Nina Vlemmings and Sophie Amalie Eiholm Kjær

Join the launch of the Danida Fellows Water Community

Danida Fellows Network

25-11-25

Join the launch of the Danida Fellows Water Community

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The story of the More Women in Research community

Danida Fellows Network

31-10-25

The story of the More Women in Research community

The More Women in Research community brings together women researchers from across the Danida network and beyond, creating a space to share experiences, strengthen professional connections, and advocate for gender equality in research and academia.

Danida Fellowship Centre

Phone: (+45) 3536 1322
Mail: dfc@dfcentre.dk

VAT number: 17246011
EAN (General activities): 5798009814364
EAN (Research projects): 5798000008809

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Women driving change in leadership and research