IDRC at the 2024 Canadian Conference on Global Health
The theme of this year’s Canadian Conference on Global Health is “Poly-crisis and global health: How can we improve human health and equity while protecting the planet?”
IDRC will host several hybrid or virtual sessions during the conference.
In the session entitled “Improving human health and health equity in a poly-crisis context: Progress and lessons learned,” Nafissatou Diop, IDRC senior program specialist, will chair a panel highlighting the following projects:
- Strengthening access to sexual and reproductive health services for internally displaced people during COVID-19 in Burkina Faso represented by Yentema Onadja, Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Burkina Faso
- Mazan Daga and adapted care for better maternal health in Niger represented by Sanoussi Chaibou, Groupe de Recherche et d’Action pour le Développement
- Improving the integration of women and adolescent girls in the informal sector into pandemic response measures represented by Alis Bambara, Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Burkina Faso
The aim of this session is to discuss proven approaches and constraints to improving access to health services for the most vulnerable populations and reducing gender inequalities in health in the context of a poly-crisis. Speakers will share their experiences, achievements and policy challenges in strengthening equitable access to essential health services.
Saturday, October 26, 2024, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. PDT
Canadian Pacific Room/hybrid session
IDRC is also co-organizing a symposium with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research entitled “Lessons from regional models to amplify countries’ research knowledge translation and impact – The case of Health Policy and Research Organizations”. Using examples related to maternal and child health, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and gender-transformative interventions and the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this panel session will explore the experience of regional models, such as Health Policy and Research Organizations, in supporting countries to move evidence from research into action, sharing their stories of change and institutional growth, and their lessons learned.
Saturday, October 26, 2–3:30 p.m. PDT
Fletcher Challenge Canada Theatre/hybrid session
In this Women RISE session entitled “Supporting Women in the Face of the Crisis: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond,” Sana Naffa, IDRC senior program specialist, will chair a panel highlighting the following projects:
- The Women RISE Initiative health policy and research organization represented by Lynette Kamau, Africa Population Health Research Center, Nairobi, Kenya
- Study on improving the pandemic policy responses to reduce adverse health effects on women workers in the export sector of Sri Lanka represented by Asanka Wijesinghe, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Understanding the gendered impact of COVID-19 on young self-employed Nigerian women and co-producing solutions that foster better systems represented by Iyeyinka Kusi-Mensah, Ibadan University, Ibadan, Nigeria
- Chamas for Change: Gender-responsive and microfinance-based approach to empowering women and building resilience to health emergencies in Kenya represented by Anjellah Khaluire Jumah, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
- Identifying opportunities to improve the lived experience and health of working women in the MENA: From COVID-19 to recovery represented by Serena Canaan, Simon Fraser University, British Colombia, Canada
The Women RISE initiative supports action-oriented and gender-transformative research on how women’s health and their work (paid or unpaid) intersect and interact in the context of preparedness, response and recovery from COVID-19.
Using a multi-sectoral and multi-systems lens, this session aims to discuss the gendered impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and wellbeing of women living and working in low-income countries.
Sunday, October 27, 2024, 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. PDT
Segal Centre Room/hybrid session
IDRC, in coordination with UNFPA, is organizing a virtual session entitled “Civil registration, vital statistics and legal identity in poly-crisis: Lessons learned,” chaired by IDRC’s Sana Naffa.
This session will examine how universal legal identity, via accessible and timely civil registration and identity management across the life course, is both a means for and goal of sustainable development. However, globally around 23% of births remain unregistered, approximately 40% of the world’s deaths are not registered and an unknown proportion of marriages remain unregistered. To address this “scandal of invisibility,” holistic system-strengthening initiatives are being scaled up through the Centre of Excellence for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS), which was founded at IDRC and has since been strengthened and expanded through UNFPA.
This session provides a status overview of efforts to end the invisibility of disadvantaged populations in health and data systems, and to advance inclusive societies through universal legal identity. The session will showcase new advances in the field and highlight country initiatives supported through the Centre of Excellence in Colombia, Indonesia, Guatemala, Uganda and Ghana.
- The keynote speaker, Priscilla Idele, chief, Data and Analytics Branch, UNFPA, New York, will make a presentation on “Integrating gender perspectives and a life-course approach through the Centre of Excellence for CRVS systems”.
- “Alignment of Parteras — Traditional Afro descendants and Indigenous birth attendants — Their associations and the national statistics office in Colombia: Ensuring universal birth registration for Indigenous and Afro Colombian communities in Choco, Colombia” represented by Javier Sebastian Ruiz Santacruz, director, Census and Demography Division, National Administrative Department of Statistics, Colombia, and Jose Wilches Gutierrez, program analyst, UNFPA Colombia.
- “Unpacking data and evidence on efforts to eradicate child marriage and advance universal birth and marriage registration — Insights from Indonesia, Guatemala and Uganda” represented by Widi Laras Sari, head of research, Center on Child Protection and Wellbeing, Universitas Indonesia.
- “Unpacking population dynamics and demographic diversity: Strengthened vital statistics for inclusive public policy and programmatic action” represented by Constance Clara Anani, head, Statistics Research, Monitoring and Evaluation, Birth and Death Registry, Ghana.
Sunday, October 27, 2024, 1:30–3 p.m. PDT
Virtual session