Wednesday, June 2 - Sheraton Centre
International Women's Health Day
Uniting Voices for Women’s Health Worldwide:
Integrating Advocacy as a Means to Improve Quality Care for Women
The year 2010 promises to be an important milestone for moving women’s health forward on global development agendas. With the G8/G20 Summits being held in Canada, as well as several important global conferences taking place, it is an opportune time for Canadian health professionals to make their voices heard and to encourage decision makers and politicians to address the dire need for increased attention to be given to improving women’s health worldwide.
During this year’s International Women’s Health Symposium, we will reflect on the progress of women’s health issues in the development arena, specifically regarding three main issues: maternal mortality, cervical cancer and female genital mutilation. As guest speakers share their own experiences of advocating for women’s health internationally, we will explore some of the issues which have gained importance thanks to advocacy and review what it takes for advocacy efforts to be successful and to ultimately improve the lives of women around the world.
Learning objectives:
- To gain understanding about why issues related to women’s health have seen such little progress in the development arena
- To review the challenges and successes of past advocacy efforts related to maternal mortality, cervical cancer and female genital mutilation
- To consider the challenges of promoting sexual and reproductive rights and to realize the potential impact of uniting voices with increased advocacy efforts
- To explore future opportunities for getting involved in advocacy efforts in Canada aimed at improving women’s health worldwide
Faculty
- Michel P. Fortier, MD, Président SOGC
- André B. Lalonde, MD, EVP SOGC
- Michel Akotionga, MD, President of SOGOB (Burkina Faso)
- Lauré Adrien, MD, Executive Director of SHOG (Haiti)
- Jean Chamberlain, MD, Save the Mothers (Uganda)
- Miguel Gutiérrez Ramos, MD, Pathfinder International (Peru)
- Monir Islam, MD, Director of Making Pregnancy Safer, WHO (Switzerland)
- Purnima Mane, MD, Deputy Executive Director (Programme), UNFPA (USA)
- Katherine McDonald, LL.M, Action Canada for Population and Development (Canada)
- Romeo Menendez, MD, Coordinator SOGC- AGOG Partnership (Guatemala)
- Daniel Murokora, MD, President of AOGU (Uganda)
- Dorothy Shaw, MD, Canadian spokesperson for PMNCH (Canada)
SOGC gratefully acknowledges:
- The generous support in the form of an unrestricted educational grant of Duchesnay Inc.
- The financial support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
- Sponsorship of a guest speaker by The Dr. André Lalonde Permanent Endowment Fund