Dr Laura Musambayi's Journey to the WHO Global Conference on NCD
A report by CLAN Youth Representative Dr Laura Musambayi on the World Health Organisation Global Conference on Non-Communicable Diseases held in Montevideo, Uruguay from 18 to 20 October 2017
Personal Experience:
Besides the nomination to represent NCD-Child and CLAN at the WHO Uruguay conference, I also had personal objectives as a youth advocate. These were motivated by a need to grow my expertise in the field of health policy and improve my effectiveness in the various advocacy roles I play.
Personal Objectives:
The reading materials provided to me by NCD-Child prior to the conference, my own research and the coursework detailed the policy process in a way that helped me to understand the global journey from recognition of the threat of NCDs to through the various responses to the need for the Montevideo Roadmap. The conference served as a practical for the theory I had just learnt. During the breaks and at the NCDFree side event after the conference, I had the privilege to interact with other conference participants. I especially was keen to learn from them what challenges they faced and the innovative ways they were/had tackled these challenges especially where powerful interest groups were involved or where they lacked political good-will.
For instance, I met with Kristina Sperkova, a psychologist with a deep passion for activism and is currently the international president of International Organization for Good Templars (IOGT). I was challenged by Kristina because we both stumbled into advocacy yet her drive and persistence have enabled her to rise to a position where she is able to significantly and positively change many lives by influencing regional and global policies on alcohol and substance abuse.
This conference was also a good opportunity to test the social media networks I have been building with the hope of exploring platforms for advocacy. While I was able to comfortably share the conference messages with my Facebook links, I realized in maintaining a passive presence on Twitter, I am missing out on an important advocacy platform.
Personal Experience:
Besides the nomination to represent NCD-Child and CLAN at the WHO Uruguay conference, I also had personal objectives as a youth advocate. These were motivated by a need to grow my expertise in the field of health policy and improve my effectiveness in the various advocacy roles I play.
Personal Objectives:
- Gain a deeper understanding of the global NCD policy journey, key players and turning points.
- The process of agenda setting in health policy and advocacy in action.
- Networking with participants
- Social media in advocacy: its role and how to effectively leverage it.
The reading materials provided to me by NCD-Child prior to the conference, my own research and the coursework detailed the policy process in a way that helped me to understand the global journey from recognition of the threat of NCDs to through the various responses to the need for the Montevideo Roadmap. The conference served as a practical for the theory I had just learnt. During the breaks and at the NCDFree side event after the conference, I had the privilege to interact with other conference participants. I especially was keen to learn from them what challenges they faced and the innovative ways they were/had tackled these challenges especially where powerful interest groups were involved or where they lacked political good-will.
For instance, I met with Kristina Sperkova, a psychologist with a deep passion for activism and is currently the international president of International Organization for Good Templars (IOGT). I was challenged by Kristina because we both stumbled into advocacy yet her drive and persistence have enabled her to rise to a position where she is able to significantly and positively change many lives by influencing regional and global policies on alcohol and substance abuse.
This conference was also a good opportunity to test the social media networks I have been building with the hope of exploring platforms for advocacy. While I was able to comfortably share the conference messages with my Facebook links, I realized in maintaining a passive presence on Twitter, I am missing out on an important advocacy platform.
