Thank you to all attendees for making this year’s CanWaCH Annual General Meeting one of the most dynamic and unique events we have ever hosted! Attendees, if you weren’t able to complete our event evaluation in person, please take a minute to complete the evaluation online.
On November 1st, our AGM, co-hosted with the Resonance Centre, brought together our members from across the country to discuss subjects and issues most importance to them. By the end of the day, attendees had joined together to create or advance 15 initiatives to improve the lives of women and children around the world. You can read more about the day from the Resonance Centre’s essencing article, “Cracking the Glass Wall to Create a Better World.” You can also watch videos from the AGM on our YouTube Channel, put together for us by the talented team at the Resonance Centre.
But the conversation doesn’t stop with the AGM! We are already working with our members to advance the initiatives highlighted during the event. This past week, we hosted two videoconference calls; one with AGM topic champions to help identify next steps for the initiatives their teams developed on November 1st; and one with attendees so they could reflect on how to harness the momentum from the AGM to advance our collective work in women and children’s health.
Stay tuned to our AGM 2017 page as we update it with relevant news and resources.
In early November, CanWaCH officially launched our redesigned website, and with it, our new Project Explorer Data Portal. The CanWaCH Portal will help Canadian development and humanitarian actors easily share and access information. Our Members can login to the Member Portal and enter detailed information on their global health projects. Their projects will then be shown on our Project Explorer page and featured in an interactive mapping feature.
For more information, check out “Reflections on the launch of the CanWaCH Project Explorer,” by our Manager of Global Health Impact, Jessica Ferne, in the Stories and Commentary section of our website.
CanWaCH 2018 Conference: Save the Date and Call for Committee Members
It’s confirmed! CanWaCH’s 2018 Conference will be held April 18-19 at the Westin Ottawa. The focus for 2018 is Canada’s Global Health and Development Programming Post 2020.
Step 1: Save the Dates in your calendar (registration will open in early 2018);
Step 2: Register for our Video Meeting (you can also join by phone) on November 23, 2017 as we once again call upon our members for your input into themes, topics, speakers and more; and,
Step 3: Apply (before November 30) to become a Member or Youth Leader of the Conference Program Advisory Committee or the Conference Communications Committee. Online application and more details available here.
Building on the momentum of this year’s Global Adolescent Health Conference, we look forward to working closely with CanWaCH members in delivering another highly informative and engaging event.
Upcoming Conference! Nutrition: Cornerstone of Gender Equality
Join CanWaCH and several other co-organizers in Ottawa on November 21st for the launch of the 2017 Global Nutrition Report in Canada, followed by a day of discussion on nutrition’s role in achieving gender equality, the Sustainable Development Goals and the vision of Canada’s new Feminist International Assistance Policy. Through the conference, participants will:
1. Better understand the linkages between gender equality and nutrition.
2. Learn about best practices towards improved nutrition and women’s empowerment.
3. Come together to accelerate Canadian leadership on driving gender equality through nutrition.
The featured guest speakers are Her Royal Highness, Princess Sarah Zeid of Jordan and Mr. Amir Mahmoud, Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme. You can register for the event here.
CanWaCH at Together 2017
On October 23-24, 2017, CanWaCH participated in Together 2017, a conference hosted by the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation (ACGC). Together 2017 brought together stakeholders from civil society, government, academia and the private sector to engage on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to explore what is being done within Alberta, Canada and the world to achieve the SDGs. Read all about the conference, including a workshop moderated by CanWaCH’s Alli Bunting that featured several CanWaCH members, in this article in the Stories and Commentary section of our new website.
On Monday, October 16, staff and partners of Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) shared their findings and forecast the future at Global Affairs Canada (GAC) in Ottawa.
Geoffrey Monjesa from the Diocese of Masasi in Tanzania and Dr. Evrard Nahimana from Partners in Health Rwanda came to Canada for the event. They were joined on the stage by PWRDF staffers Zaida Bastos, Development Partnership Program Director and Bart Dickinson, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator. About 40 development workers from various NGOs, as well as GAC, were in attendance.
Louise Holt, Director General for Social Development Partnerships at GAC, noted that other organizations are encouraged to replicate this forum-style event to foster a broader dialogue about the challenges of working in this area. Particularly in the context of the Feminist International Assistance Policy, it’s crucial that we continue the dialogue, she said. GAC is intent on improving gender equality with the Feminist International Assistance Plan, and that also means working with boys and men.
You can read the full article on the News about our Members Section of our website.
This month’s Deliver for Good theme is Investing in Women to Tackle Climate Change and Conserve the Environment. Women Deliver has a rich selection of resources available on their website, including a policy brief, infographics, partner resources and much more. CanWaCH is a Deliver for Good Campaign Ally and our members are invited to share any related content or information on the campaign’s monthly themes by emailing us. Continue to watch this space as well as our Women Deliver 2019 page for updates on the road to Women Deliver 2019 in Vancouver.
Update on CanWaCH’s Public Engagement Strategy
Research, consultations and workshops have been undertaken in recent months to develop CanWaCH’s Public Engagement campaign, with the Public Engagement Working Group taking on a central role. At the CanWaCH Annual General Meeting, we introduced our draft Canadian public engagement strategy to strengthen CanWaCH members’ ability to engage Canadians. Throughout the day, members in attendance had the opportunity to share their thoughts, concerns and needs regarding public engagement and our draft strategy. We are excited to further engage YOU – as public engagement champions! Watch for more details on this public engagement work in the coming weeks and months. Please contact us if you have any questions.
CanWaCH Associate Membership Category
Are you a health professional, academic or other individual interested in the work that CanWaCH and its members are undertaking? Would like to be more engaged in the partnership and its work? If you answered yes to these question, then we highly recommend you apply to be a CanWaCH Associate. CanWaCH Associates are non-voting participants per the CanWaCH Membership Policy but can access the benefits of our great partnership. To apply to be an Associate, please fill out this form.
University of Toronto’s SAVE Program Accepting Applications for it’s 2018-19 Cohort
The Statistical Alliance for Vital Events (SAVE), University of Toronto is accepting applications from doctoral and postdoctoral trainees to its 2018-19 QES-SAVE program. QES-SAVE is a research scholarship program designed to engage doctoral, postdoctoral and early career researchers in the work of strengthening health and mortality information systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to support innovative multi-disciplinary research on maternal and child health (MCH) to improve access to health services.
In 2018-19, they are accepting applicants from Canada, India, Ethiopia, Mexico, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone. Applications are due on December 15, 2017. For further information and the application form, please contact Vadim Levin at [email protected].
ARTICLES & PUBLICATIONS
Annual Report 2016-2017, by CanWaCH
Fighting for Breath: A Call to Action on Childhood Pneumonia, by Save the Children
Levels and Trends in Child Mortality Report 2017, by UNICEF
Nourishing the SDGs – Global Nutrition Report 2017, by the International Food Policy Research Institute
The Power of She: 2017 Impact Report, by EngenderHealth
Real Accountability: Data Analysis for Results (RADAR) Tools, by Institute for International Programs, Bloomberg School of Health, John Hopkins University
Worlds Apart: Reproductive health and rights in age of inequality – State of World Population Report, by UNFPA
2017 Pneumonia & Diarrhea Progress Report: Driving Progress Through Equitable Investment and Action, by the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC)
UPCOMING EVENTS
November 13-19: World Antibiotic Awareness Week
November 18: Second EvalYouth Virtual Conference: Finding Your Place in the Evolving World of Evaluation – Young and Emerging Evaluators and the EvalAgenda 2020
November 19: World Toilet Day
November 20: Universal Children’s Day
November 21: Nutrition: Cornerstone of Gender Equality, Ottawa
November 25: International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
December 1: World AIDS Day
December 2-5: 10th Congress of the World Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Shenzhen, China
December 3: International Day of Persons with Disabilities
December 9-11: Global NCD Alliance Forum 2017, Sharjah, U.A.E.
December 10: Human Rights Day
February 4: World Cancer Day
February 6: International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation
March 8: International Women’s Day
April 17-18: CanWaCH Conference: Canada’s Global Health and Development Programming Post-2020, Ottawa
JOB POSTINGS
