Shifting global health paradigms and effective advocacy: Feminists making the impossible possible in Cairo

The Department of Global Health and Population will host a virtual conversation on Tuesday, April 23 as part of Global Health Week 2024.

It is widely accepted that the 1994 ICPD in Cairo changed paradigms in population policies, but it is usually forgotten that the conference also contributed to a shift of paradigms in global health: from one focused on “patients” to one focused on persons with a right to health; from a uterus-based patient perspective to a holistic approach towards women as agents with multiple needs and capabilities. At the 1994 ICPD, feminists from around the world organized themselves, created alliances, and learned the art and craft of advocacy to effectively propose new alternatives from a feminist perspective. Join Carmen Barroso, participant in the 1994 ICPD and former director of the Western Hemisphere Region of International Planned Parenthood, and Kelly Blanchard, president of Ibis Reproductive Health, for a conversation about shifting population and global health paradigms and the impact of advocacy and civil society engagement.