Improving Global Maternal Health through Policy Advocacy

On February 24th, 2022 from 11 am – 12 pm EST

Register today on Eventbrite:  https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/271089174017.

Maternity Today is presenting a panel discussion on Improving Global Maternal Health through Policy Advocacy. Don’t miss out on this powerhouse presentation with leaders from gender equality, women’s health, midwifery, and human rights organizations.  The event will include guest speakers from : Canadian Partnership for Women’s and Children’s Health( CanWaCH), White Ribbon Alliance Global (WRA) , Canadian Center for Women’s Empowerment (CCWE), International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), and Canadian Association of Midwives .

Our theme is to promote women’s maternal  health by engaging leaders in discussing policies that affect women and their well-being . The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the disparities in accessing health, and among the vulnerable and marginalized, are women who have been disproportionately  affected by the pandemic. This panel will also discuss the  importance of midwives as  essential health care  providers to women. 

Recently, Maternity Today joined the global efforts with ICM and WRA,  to survey midwives as ambassadors for women’s health. The goal of the survey is to ask midwives  about what they want and need to serve women in their care and for themselves as midwives. 

Why empower midwives? Because this is What Women Want! 

In 2019, the What Women Want (WWW) Campaign was launched with the goal of addressing the needs of women and girls in the developing world. Findings were used to develop policy agendas and the implementation of reproductive and maternal health services.  The top request that came from WWW was the demand for more midwives and better-supported nurses. As a result, the What Women Want: Midwives’ Voices, Midwives’ Demands campaign was launched to better understand the needs of midwives. 

A global survey was launched to amplify the multitudinous voices of Midwives. The information that is gathered will be categorized, analyzed, and reported in May 2022  on the International Day of the Midwife. The reported information will be further used to advocate for policy change so Midwives across the globe will receive all that they need to help mothers and children. 

Speakers

Julia Anderson:

Julia is the Chief Executive Officer for the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health (CanWaCH). She has over 15 years of senior and executive level experience in international development, not-for-profits, civil society, human rights and gender equality. Julia works closely with multiple stakeholders on international development policy-related issues, from Canadian and global decision-makers to young leaders. In 2019, Julia spearheaded the shaping of a renewed collective vision by Canada’s global health sector that resulted in a $14-billion, 10-year investment by the Government of Canada. As CanWaCH CEO, she continues to champion bold, innovative – and even disruptive – approaches to advancing the health and rights of women and girls around the world. Julia holds a Master of Arts degree in Canadian and Indigenous Studies from Trent University and an Executive Certificate in Conflict Management from University of Windsor Law School.

Meseret Haileyesus:

Meseret is an entrepreneur, ambassador, and advocate for gender equality and social justice, quality of midwifery care and wellness. She is the founder and Director of Maternity Today and CEO of Canadian Center for Women’s Empowerment (CCWE).  Meseret Worked in various national and international nonprofit organizations for more than 20 projects on Gender Equality and Global Health, for the last 16 years. She has served on numerous international advisory boards & panels. She also worked with Alberta Council on HIV & Ethiopia-Canada Maternal, Newborn Health project under University of Alberta which was funded by Global Affair Canada. Besides this, she is involved in various community-based Women Empowerment initiatives including the City of Ottawa. She is a graduate of Midwifery, Clinical Nursing, Economics, and Management and Masters of Public Health(MPH).

Meseret is an advocate for universal, equitable access to high-quality midwifery care, gender-based violence, reproductive health rights and strategies to reinforce the reproductive health component in health sector reform programs in developing countries. Meseret is the founder of Canadian Center for Women Empowerment, a charity that supports domestic violence survivor’s wealth through mentorship to achieve long-term safety and financial stability. 

Elena Ateva:

Elena Ateva is the Advocacy Manager at White Ribbon Alliance and the Maternal Health lead for the USAID/Health Policy Plus Project. She is responsible for facilitating the work of the Global Respectful Maternity Care Council, leading global advocacy efforts to strengthen the midwifery workforce and providing assistance to WRA National Alliances that campaign to improve reproductive, maternal and newborn health and rights. Elena is an attorney and a human rights advocate who has been involved in the movement for respectful care in her home country, Bulgaria, and throughout Eastern Europe. Prior to joining WRA, Ateva was the Eastern Europe Legal Advocacy Coordinator for the international non-profit Human Rights in Childbirth and later served on the board of the organization. Her work has also focused on prevention of other forms of violence against women, including domestic violence and trafficking in Bulgaria and the United States.

Diana Copeland:

Diana Copeland joined White Ribbon Alliance in 2016 as the Communication Coordinator, working to strengthen and disseminate the organization’s message on its website and social media platforms, and was promoted in 2018 to Senior Communications Officer in order to oversee and grow White Ribbon Alliance’s digital and offline presence.Before coming to White Ribbon Alliance, Diana worked for HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” as a Researcher and as a member of Octopus Publishing Group’s Editorial team. Diana graduated from the University of Florida with a BA in English Literature and received her MA from University College London’s Department of Information Studies.

Faridah Luyiga Mwanje

Faridah Luyiga Mwanje is the Advocacy Lead at the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM). She is an advocate and communicator for sexual and reproductive health with over 15 years of experience. Faridah has worked with a range of stakeholders across the sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (SRMNCAH) continuum. She has coordinated multi-country campaigns, demonstrated advocacy successes resulting in policy change, and built multi-sectoral partnerships at various levels.

As an advocate for midwives and midwifery, and the key role health workers and their associations play to improve health outcomes for women and newborns, Faridah is privileged to be working on these issues from a supply-side perspective, having initially advocated for SRMNCAH from the demand-side.She is a member of the Coalition Steering Committee of the Self-care Trailblazers Group.Faridah holds a Master of Business Administration, a Bachelor of Mass Communication degree and served as a Fellow with the MakSPH-CDC HIV/AIDS Fellowship Programme at the School of Public Health.Faridah is currently based in Uganda. 

Alix Bacon, RM & CAM President 

Alixandra Bacon is a Registered Midwife and settler living and working in Vancouver, BC on the traditional and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-waututh and Tsawassen nations. Alix has served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association of Midwives(CAM) for six years and is the Past President of the Midwives Association of British Columbia(MABC).

Alix is passionate about strategies for decolonizing governance and global development, and sexual reproductive health and rights. She is inspired by the power of midwifery associations to grow and strengthen the workforce, contribute to policy development, and promote social accountability to ultimately improve the health and rights of birthing people in Canada and around the world through provision of equitable and respectful care.

Moderator: 

Sanga Achakzai

Finalist for Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award, Sanga Achakzai has a bilingual specialized Honors in International Relations from York University and over 12 years of experience in community and international development.

Some of her community work involves her appointment as a Grant Review Member at Ontario Trillium Foundation, CHRC’s National Network of Stakeholders, Local Immigration Partnership (LIP), and Professional International Networking (PINs). Furthermore, she is a steering committee member of Color of Poverty- Color of Change.Sanga is the Executive Director of Maternity Today, Professor at Seneca College, and chair of the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA), where she provides leadership in projects and initiatives that promote health and employment equity in collaboration with educational and health sector partners such as Ryerson University, CAMH, and William Osler Health System. Under her leadership, CASSA has twice been the recipient of the “Diversity is our Strength Proclamation” by Mayor John Tory. She has recently been profiled on Volunteer Toronto’s Walk of Fame for Legacy Award.

Achakzai also provided leadership and guidance to initiatives such as the Organ Donation Campaign that raised awareness to more than 1 million South Asian Canadians and registered 10,000 people for organ donation. She engages with policymakers and key politicians for recommendations and policy advocacy in matters that affect marginalized and racialized communities. Issues she has been involved in include the Poverty Reduction Strategy, Housing Strategy, and human rights. She also contributed to the Racism Free Ontario Campaign that resulted in establishing Ontario’s Anti-Racism Directorate.