Global Health Workforce: Pathways to Health – Update 29 November 2011

A short update on the October 20th One Day Symposium and Learning Event at DCU and on the plans for the upcoming IFGH International Conference being held on 2-3 February 2012 at RCSI in Dublin.

One Day Symposium and Learning Event

Many thanks to those who submitted summaries of their work in this area and who participated in the One Day Symposium. We were delighted to receive over 40 submissions for the event, from NGOs and researchers all over Ireland, most reflecting partnerships in the field.  The day was organised around the following four themes and structured to ensure as much space as possible for dialogue, learning and sharing amongst participants: 

•             Community responses

•             Education, training and north-south partnerships

•             Health worker retention, motivation and management strategies

•             Ethical recruitment and migration of health workers

More than 60 people actively participated in the symposium and learning event. After an overview presentation of submissions in each of the areas by a member of the symposium organising committee, participants worked together in discussion groups (Working Groups) to identify lessons and highlight gaps and opportunities for future collaborations. A summary report of the discussion groups  is available here.

Overall, it was a successful day and a summary evaluation by participants can be viewed here.

Submissions received are also available as a working document, organised according to the four themes here.

Towards the February Conference – Actions

The One Day Symposium was intended as a first step to establish the breadth of work being carried out by Irish development workers (NGOs, researchers and practitioners), partnering with colleagues in Africa and Asia on issues around the health workforce.  Looking forward now to the opportunity of the International Conference in February, some actions are proposed. Participants at the One Day Symposium expressed interest in continuing to work in Interest/ Working Groups to create another face-to-face opportunity for dialogue and/or to work together remotely (electronically) to develop some short and focused recommendations that could be presented at the February Conference. Four members of the Organising Committee have volunteered to support these groups to move forward:

·         Enida Friel: Community Responses

·         David Weakliam: Education, training and south-south partnerships

·         Nuha Ibrahim: Health worker retention, motivation and management

·         Anne Matthews: Ethical recruitment and migration of health workers

If you are interested in taking part in any of these groups, please email: info@globalhealth.ieand indicate which group(s) you want to take part in.  For those who took part in the discussion groups on 20^th October in DCU, we will follow up with you by email.

IFGH International Conference, 2-3 February 2011

Plans are taking shape for the Irish Forum for Global Health Conference, hosted by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.  The conference will attract a number of high-profile national and international stakeholders and the format of the conference will allow time for learning, networking and sharing of experiences. 

A call for abstracts will be sent out shortly and we will be encouraging as many of you as possible to participate.  More updates on the conference will be posted to www.globalhealth.ieThe conference will be held at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, near St Stephen’s Green in Dublin (further details to follow).

Conference Organising Committee

Noel Murphy (NUIM), Nuha Ibrahim (Global health PhD Student TCD), Diarmuid McClean (Irish Aid), Nadine Ferris France (IFGH), David Weakliam (HSE, Chair IFGH), Ruairi Brugha (RCSI), Enida Friel (OXFAM), Elaine Byrne (RCSI), Anne Matthews (DCU), Meghan O’Reilly (IFGH)Eilish McAuliffe( TCD)

29 November 2011