BACKGROUND:
Violence against women and girls (VAWG) remains a significant global public health challenge. While most countries have multisectoral policies in place, health systems often struggle to implement coordinated, system-wide responses. Evidence from research conducted by the WHO European Office for Investment for Health & Development, including prevalence estimates and policy mapping across 53 Member States, highlights persistent implementation gaps and the need for stronger system leadership .

METHODS:
This interactive workshop uses systems leadership and adult learning approaches to support health-sector leaders in translating policy commitments into practice. The session combines brief, evidence-informed presentations with facilitated plenary discussion and structured small-group exercises. Participants will work with short country case examples to analyse health-system barriers and enablers across governance, service delivery, workforce capacity, financing, and data use. Guided exercises will support participants to map health systems as interconnected and adaptive, identify leverage points for change, and examine how leadership behaviours influence system performance. The workshop focuses on strengthening leadership capabilities required for system change, including systems thinking, strategic and political engagement, stakeholder collaboration, communication, adaptive leadership, and accountability. Participants will identify priority areas for leadership action within their own contexts and develop practical strategies to strengthen these capabilities at individual, organisational, and system levels.

RESULTS:
Participants will gain a clearer understanding of how health systems function as complex systems and how leadership behaviours shape prevention and response outcomes for VAWG. Expected outputs include a shared visual map of system barriers and enablers, a prioritised set of leadership competencies for system change, and a set of actionable, context-specific steps applicable to participants’ professional roles.

CONCLUSIONS:
By focusing on leadership practice and system dynamics, this workshop supports health-sector actors to move beyond fragmented interventions toward coordinated, sustainable prevention of VAWG. Strengthening system leadership enables improved implementation, accountability, and long-term system change.