CLAN
  • Home
  • What We Do
    • About CLAN
    • Our Five Pillars
    • Child Rights
    • Our Committee
    • Our Team >
      • CDOs
      • Interns
      • Youth Advisors
      • UN Youth Representatives
      • New Colombo Plan Scholarship Holders
      • Supporting Community
    • Partnerships
    • Acknowledging CDOs & Interns who have worked with CLAN
  • Where We Work
    • Australia
    • Burundi
    • Fiji
    • Indonesia
    • Pakistan
    • Philippines
    • Vietnam
    • Uganda
    • Other
  • Communities
    • CAH
    • Diabetes
    • DMD
    • NS
    • OI
    • RHD
    • Other
  • News
    • UN CSW67
    • MATES4Kids
    • IndigenousNCDs
    • Blogs
    • Events Calendar
  • Donate
  • Fundraisers
    • Rare Disease Day 2022
    • CAH Awareness Month 2022
  • COVID-19
    • COVID-19 Infographics
    • COVID-19 Resources >
      • Vaccines
      • Mask Wearing and Personal Hygiene
      • CAH
      • Diabetes
      • DMD
      • NS
      • OI
      • RHD
  • Contact

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:
  1. Gain a deeper understanding of the global NCD policy journey, key players and turning points.
  2. The process of agenda setting in health policy and advocacy in action.
  3. Networking with participants
  4. Social media in advocacy: its role and how to effectively leverage it.
I am currently studying healthcare management and last semester completed a module on health care and policy. Prior to this, my only exposure to health policy came by way of interacting with the Ministry of health through its representatives and in my various advocacy roles. This course opened my eyes to the undercurrents that influence health policy formulation and implementation including the policy process, agenda setting, the different interest groups and how they influence the policy process.
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.
HOME   |  WHAT WE DO  |  WHERE WE WORK  |  COMMUNITIES |  NEWS  |  DONATE | CONTACT

Picture
© CLAN INC 2019
​
CLAN (Caring & Living As Neighbours) Inc
ABN 30 897 322 928 | PO Box 996, Toronto  NSW  2283, Australia
info@clanchildhealth.org
​CLAN Logo Files | Donate | Subscribe to CLAN's Newsletter 
website by Peekaboo Creations 
Picture
  • Home
  • What We Do
    • About CLAN
    • Our Five Pillars
    • Child Rights
    • Our Committee
    • Our Team >
      • CDOs
      • Interns
      • Youth Advisors
      • UN Youth Representatives
      • New Colombo Plan Scholarship Holders
      • Supporting Community
    • Partnerships
    • Acknowledging CDOs & Interns who have worked with CLAN
  • Where We Work
    • Australia
    • Burundi
    • Fiji
    • Indonesia
    • Pakistan
    • Philippines
    • Vietnam
    • Uganda
    • Other
  • Communities
    • CAH
    • Diabetes
    • DMD
    • NS
    • OI
    • RHD
    • Other
  • News
    • UN CSW67
    • MATES4Kids
    • IndigenousNCDs
    • Blogs
    • Events Calendar
  • Donate
  • Fundraisers
    • Rare Disease Day 2022
    • CAH Awareness Month 2022
  • COVID-19
    • COVID-19 Infographics
    • COVID-19 Resources >
      • Vaccines
      • Mask Wearing and Personal Hygiene
      • CAH
      • Diabetes
      • DMD
      • NS
      • OI
      • RHD
  • Contact