Newsletter March 2019

29th of March, 2019

Message from the Chair Prof. Dr. Marleen Temmerman

Happy and proud to be involved in The Nairobi Summit on ICPD25: Accelerating the promise that will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 12-14 November, 2019. The Government of the Republic of Kenya and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) announced the convening of a high-level conference to advance the implementation of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action. The Norwegian Ambassador hosted an event on International Women Day in Nairobi where I had the pleasure to address some of the SRHR topics, together with my good friend, Dr Natalia Kanem, Executive Director UNFPA. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the ground breaking International Conference on Population and Development, which took place in Cairo in 1994. During the conference, leaders articulated a bold vision regarding the relationships between population, development and individual well-being. Its Programme of Action, adopted by 179 governments, recognized that reproductive health, as well as women's empowerment and gender equality, are the pathway to sustainable development.  The Nairobi Summit on ICPD25: Accelerating the promise will offer an inclusive platform, bringing together governments, UN agencies, civil society, private sector organizations, women’s groups and youth networks to discuss and agree on actions to accelerate the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action, which is critical to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. “As we celebrate the remarkable progress we have made in advancing the health and rights of women, we must redouble our efforts to reach those who have not yet benefited from the promise of the ICPD,” said Dr. Natalia Kanem. “The Nairobi Summit will help us rally a broad coalition of stakeholders to protect the gains made and advance the ICPD agenda to ensure that no one is left behind.” ICRH will be a proud participant in the Nairobi Summit!

Youth-friendly health service buildings disclosed in Mozambique

As a result of the ICRH Mozambique project "Acquiring knowledge for improved quality services and community involvement for greater use of family planning (IQSCI)" new buildings, made from shipping containers, were equipped to provide youth-friendly health services in the Marracuene district.
 
The project, funded by the Flemish Government, created the building in a response to the District’s request to increase sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents. During the investiture ceremony of the new buildings the District Health Director emphasized the important role of ICRH Mozambique in strengthening and expanding youth-friendly service providers training and optimizing the needed infrastructure. With this support the district hopes to continue to increase adolescent SRHR services.

ICRHK Prof. Peter Gichangi is appointed Deputy Vice Chancellor at The Technical University of Mombasa

ICRHK is pleased to announce the appointment of Prof. Peter Gichangi as Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs, Research and Extension (DVC ARE) at Technical University of Mombasa (TUM). Prof. Gichangi is has served as Country Director and Chief Executive Officer of ICRHK from 2015.
With this new responsibility, Prof. Gichangi steps down from his position at ICRHK.  In the interim, Dr. Griffins Manguro will be Acting Country Director and CEO, and maintains his functions as the Director for the Mombasa Office.
Peter remains part of the ICRHK team and family as a Senior Advisor. In this position, he will continue to provide mentorship in research to the ICRHK and ICRH Global team, and support in business development. He will also continue to provide support as Principal Investigator in various studies. The ICRHK family wishes Peter well in his new responsibilities and will continue to provide full support to Dr. Manguro.

Prof. Peter Gichangi and Dr. Griffins Manguro

Saverio Bellizzi
Dr. Saverio Bellizzi successfully defended his PhD entitled 'The effect of health facility based childbirth on early neonatal mortality in low- and middle-income countries' on March 13th 2019, at Ghent University. Supervisors of his doctoral research: Prof. Dr. Steven Weyers, Prof. Dr. Marleen Temmerman, and Dr. Howard Sobel. The thesis can be downloaded here

Leen De Kort
Leen De Kort has a master diploma in Sociology and in health promotion and disease prevention. At the moment she works for 50% at the university of Antwerp and for 50% at the university of Ghent as researcher. Besides that, she is working on a PhD about eating disorders and identity. She is working on the evaluation of the HIV-SAM project (HIV prevention towards sub-saharan African migrants). More information: leen.dekort@ugent.be

Sofie Vanrobaeys
Sofie Vanrobaeys has been active within the Faculty Support Service for several years and already has experience as a track counselor and curriculum manager of various study programs and as coordinator of master’s dissertations. Next to her job, she likes to travel, good food, exercise and spending time with friends and family.
Sofie is the new curriculum manager of the ManaMa Global Health program. In addition, she will soon be working as an internationalization policy officer and will coordinate the Honours Program Education. More information: sofie.vanrobaeys@ugent.be
 

Van Eekert N, Leye E, Van de Velde S. The Association Between Women's Social Position and the Medicalization of Female Genital Cutting in Egypt. Int Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2018 Sep 1;44(3). doi: 10.1363/44e6618. link
 

Ooms G, Keygnaert I, Hammonds R (2019) The right to health: from citizen’s right to human right (and back). Public Health. Online publication complete: 21-MAR-2019 DOI information: 10.1016/j.puhe.2019.01.019 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2019.01.019 link

Azzopardi PS, Hearps SJC, Francis KL, Kennedy EC, Mokdad AH, Kassebaum NJ, Lim S,  Irvine CMS, Vos T, Brown AD, Dogra S, Kinner SA, Kaoma NS, Naguib M, Reavley NJ,  Requejo J, Santelli JS, Sawyer SM, Skirbekk V, Temmerman M, Tewhaiti-Smith J, Ward JL, Viner RM, Patton GC. Progress in adolescent health and wellbeing: tracking 12 headline indicators for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016. The Lancet Volume 393, Issue 10176, 16–22 March 2019, Pages 1101-1118. link

Liu J, Wu S, Xu J, Temmerman M, Zhang WH, The INPAC Group. Is Repeat Abortion a Public Health Problem among Chinese Adolescents? A Cross-Sectional Survey in 30 Provinces.  Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(5), 794; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16050794. link

Bustreo F, Temmerman M. Keeping promises to women, children, and adolescents. Lancet. 2019 Mar 22. pii: S0140-6736(19)30688-9. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30688-9. link