participation

Call for participation: Collection of case studies on genuine participation of children and young people

Call for participation: Collection of case studies on genuine participation of children and young people

The UNESCO Chair has launched a call for participation to collect case studies of successful projects and initiatives on how to involve children and young people in improving their health and wellbeing. The collection and analysis of case studies is part of a global initiative on genuine participation of children and young people in health promotion. The case studies will help us to improve, test and implement models and approaches for children’s and young people’s genuine participation in the future. They will be included in a publication, edited by Professor Didier Jourdan, chair holder of the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education, and colleagues. Everyone who is involved in or has experience with initiatives and projects that actively involve children and young people in promoting their health and well-being is invited to contribute.

For more information download the Call for participation or visit the dedicated webpage.

We would be grateful if you could share this call for participation with your relevant contacts and networks.

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UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education and JOGG: joining forces for a Lifestyle Transition

UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education and JOGG: joining forces for a Lifestyle Transition

Press release – The UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education and JOGG are combining forces to put a Lifestyle Transition on the agenda of national and international policymakers. A Lifestyle Transition for and together with today’s young people. A healthy future demands cross-domain cooperation focused on creating a healthy environment and a healthy lifestyle. Something which does not end at national borders.

Unhealthy environment

A healthy future begins with a healthy younger generation. Among children and young people who grow up in a healthy environment. But at the moment that environment is far from healthy. Everywhere children go they are constantly being bombarded with messages to eat both unhealthy food and too much of it, while they enjoy less and less physical exercise. On top of which the differences in health between those from poorer backgrounds and those who are better off, are only growing. The result has been a huge increase in diseases of affluence, including among children. Together with all the adverse effects that this has, both for the individual and for society.

Joined action for a Lifestyle Transition

“The present lifestyle crisis demands action. Action to narrow the health gap and improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people,” says JOGG director, Marjon Bachra. “We need to move towards a society where being able to have a healthy lifestyle is the norm. But we can only achieve that by taking a holistic approach. One which embraces all domains and sectors. Something on which both JOGG and the UNESCO Global Health & Education Chair agree. It is high time for a Lifestyle Transition.”

From today JOGG and the UNESCO Chair will support one another on the road to creating a healthier society, both nationally and internationally. The active involvement of children and young people themselves plays an important part in this. For example, the JOGG Youth Health Community is supporting the UNESCO Chair with an international project aimed at actively involving young people in creating a world which is healthy and pleasant to live in. Not just because participation is their fundamental right, but because it is also vital if the interventions to improve health are to be effective.

About JOGG – Healthy Youngsters with a Healthy Future

JOGG is a driver of the Lifestyle Transition in the Netherlands. The organisation has developed and facilitates a worknet which connects more than 200 Dutch municipalities and roughly a hundred other partners in society, fundamental and applied research and the business community. It is described as a ‘worknet’ because all the parties are working to achieve this. Based on the integrated JOGG approach, together they are working to create a healthier environment for the young, in policy and in practice. An environment in which it is easy to eat healthy food, get sufficient exercise and relax.

About the UNESCO Chair for Global Health & Education

The UNESCO Chair for Global Health & Education is a UNESCO Chair associated with the Clermont Auvergne University in France, with Professor Didier Jourdan as chairholder and Goof Buijs as manager. The UNESCO Chair works globally to strengthen health promotion and disease prevention, targeted mainly towards young people and aimed at lifelong learning. The emphasis is on creating the right conditions whereby children and young people can take more control of their own lives, as individuals, as members of their community and as world citizens.

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4th IAAH MENA Region Adolescent Health Conference – Declaration

4th IAAH MENA Region Adolescent Health Conference – Declaration

The 4th IAAH (International Association for Adolescent Health) MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Region Adolescent Health Conference was held from 1-3 December 2021 in Hurghada, Egypt.

Theme

The main theme of the conference was: “Adolescent Care, Leaving No One Behind”. The conference aimed to break the silence around the unmet needs of the large and increasing group of disadvantaged adolescents in the Middle East and North Africa region who are chronically ill or disabled, belong to an ethnic minority, live in a disadvantaged socio-economic environment or are displaced due to political violence. It also emphasized that investing in the health, development and well-being of adolescents in general is the most cost-effective investment a nation can make for the future.

Declaration

The declaration of the conference reminds states of the necessity to systematically strengthen health systems, while ensuring a multi-sectoral approach, so as to encompass the socio-ecological determinants of adolescent health. It also emphasizes the life course perspective to health and that failing to address adolescents’ health needs will inevitably impact future adult health and subsequent generations. The declarations calls to:

  • Acknowledge adolescence as a distinct period in life.
  • Adopt equity-based policies and strategies that are inclusive of all adolescents.
  • Recognize the fact that learning, education, and health are deeply intertwined, and therefore, through strong collaborations between Ministries of Health and Education, support each and every school to be a health promoting center.
  • Capitalize on all settings of adolescent learning (formal, non-formal, and informal) to integrate aspects of health promotion and prevention.
  • Take active measures to educate adolescents about sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in formal, informal, non-formal education, and work settings and in manners that are culturally sensitive.
  • Recognize that adolescents and youth are true change agents and genuinely involve them in active and transformative participation.
  • And more…

More information: Conference website

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4th IAAH MENA Region Adolescent Health Conference – contributions UNESCO Chair

4th IAAH MENA Region Adolescent Health Conference – contributions UNESCO Chair

The 4th IAAH (International Association for Adolescent Health) MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Region Adolescent Health Conference, organized by the Arab Coalition for Adolescent Health & Medicine (ACAHM), was held from 1-3 December 2021 in Hurghada, Egypt. The conference was held under the patronage of the League of Arab States and attended by 190 participants from 38 countries and 15 International and Regional organizations.

Theme

The main theme of the conference was: “Adolescent Care, Leaving No One Behind”. The conference aimed to break the silence around the unmet needs of the large and increasing group of disadvantaged adolescents in the Middle East and North Africa region who are chronically ill or disabled, belong to an ethnic minority, live in a disadvantaged socio-economic environment or are displaced due to political violence. It also emphasized that investing in the health, development and well-being of adolescents in general is the most cost-effective investment a nation can make for the future.

UNESCO Chair contributions

Didier Jourdan gave a keynote speech on the theme: Supporting every community and every school to become a foundation for healthy lives. He addressed the following five ideas:

  1. Education and Health are mutually intertwined
  2. Learning for Health and Well-being
  3. Creating a safe, inclusive and healthy learning environment
  4. Political and strategic levers for change
  5. Building school’s capacity to become a foundation for healthy lives

Download the PPT

Didier Jourdan, MinChien Tsai and Silvia de Ruiter led a plenary workshop on Genuine Participation of adolescents. During the workshop they shared why genuine participation is critical for the success of health interventions, provided country examples and introduced the roadmap for a global collaboration “nothing about them, without them”.

Download the PPT

More information: Conference website

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Join the SDG4Youth Network

Join the SDG4Youth Network

Call for applications for young leaders, 18-29 years old, who are actively working to contribute to the Education 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with youth/student networks.

The SDG4Youth network aims to include young education activists in shaping global education policies through engagement in the multi-stakeholder SDG 4 Education 2030 High-level Steering Committee, while establishing the network as an accountable and representative youth and students platform. 

Around the world, young people are driving change and claiming fundamental freedoms and rights; improving conditions for them and their communities; as well as opportunities to learn, work and participate in decisions that affect them. Young people have placed education as a key concern and challenge affecting their lives.

Creating an SDG4Youth Network was born out of the recognition that young people are key partners and actors in creating a better future for all through education in their countries and communities and should have an equal seat at the decision-making table. As such, SDG4Youth will have a strong emphasis on co-creation with youth and students, by involving young people from the start of the initiative network to shape on how they would like to see the network developed, operationalized and sustained. The network will also forge strong links with the regional youth and education initiatives and strategies.

More information about the initiative

More details on criteria in the sign-up form. 1 November 2021 is the deadline for the first intake.

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Online pre-conference Genuine Participation and the Transformational Potential of Health Promotion – 10 November 2021

Online pre-conference Genuine Participation and the Transformational Potential of Health Promotion – 10 November 2021

Join the preconference Genuine Participation and the Transformational Potential of Health Promotion – Coronavirus Politics on 10 November 2021 from 9.00 CET. The focus of this pre-conference is to open new perspectives on genuine participation as a means to highlight the transformational potential of Health Promotion. By shifting participation as a mantra to participation as a practice this pre-conference aims at establishing a stronger focus to inclusion as part of health-for-all-policies. In this session we will explore different perspectives to the future of the transformational potential of health promotion focusing on the global and the national level.

Next to these objectives, we wish to create a space that supports international networking among professionals and researchers interested in advancing participatory community-based public health interventions.

The pre-conference is organized by the EUPHA Health Promotion section, UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education and International Institute, University of Michigan during the 14th European Public Health Conference (Glasgow 10-12 November)

For more information and registration

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Pre-conference: Helping people to help themselves to better health – From theory to practice

Pre-conference: Helping people to help themselves to better health – From theory to practice

Join the online pre-conference “Helping people to help themselves to better health – From theory to practice” on Monday 12 October 2020, 14.00 – 16.00 CET. This pre-conference is part of the virtual 16th World Congress on Public Health.

More than ever, the current context reminds us how public health approaches need to be based on strong knowledge of health determinants, social practices, cultures and the active involvement of the people themselves. In public health interventions there is often still an over-emphasis on individual-level factors at the expense of the social determinants of health.

During this pre-conference Dr. Nina Bartelink (Maastricht University), Pr. Kenneth Yongabi Anchang (IMO State University) and Pr. Marco Akerman (University of São Paulo) will showcase experiences of participatory community-based programmes that made a difference to people’s well-being and health. These presentations will be followed by a round table where experts as Pr. Louise Potvin (Montreal University) and Dr. Orkan Okan (Bielefeld University and EUPHA Health Promotion section) will share their views on the state of public health practice and how to get public health systems investing more in participatory community-based interventions.

The pre-conference will result in a statement with the main conditions for large-scale implementation of policies and practices that leave no one behind, by reviewing the evidence and learning from innovations in the field. Participants will be invited to contribute to this statement.

For more information or to register for the pre-conference (registration fee is € 40,-).

The pre-conference is organized by WHO Collaborating Centre & UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education, EUPHA Health Promotion Section and EHESP School of Public Health.

Posted by Didier in News