New: Infectious Hazards Foresight Initiative
WHO has recently launched the infectious hazards foresight initiative that will employ foresight methodologies to inform pandemic preparedness. The initiative is not to predict or forecast infectious hazards, rather, it is an approach and methodology to identify key factors that influence the trajectory of a pandemic, and different outcomes that should be anticipated to support enhanced preparedness for current and future infectious threats.
The initiative has already hosted a number of closed workshops to begin the discussions and EPI-WIN is supporting by hosting public webinars on the process and outcomes. Find out more below...
Youth Spotlight - Katja Čič
One of our EPI-WIN Youth Network members, Katja Čič, recently participated in one of the infectious hazards foresight workshops. She shares her experience with us:
"On October 1, 2021, I took part in the WHO Pandemic Foresight Workshop, attended by around 40 experts from WHO's Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Infectious Hazards and other stakeholders across different geographies and demographics sectors and industries. The workshop aimed to refine scenarios for possible futures on how the pandemic might evolve.
The whole experience was exciting, and the simulation was very well-built. I enjoyed hearing about the process of designing the scenarios, seeing them come to life step-by-step and visualizing the paths to possible futures. I also learned a lot from the discussion with other participants - they were an invaluable source of information with interesting points of view. The interdisciplinary, intercultural and multigenerational dialogue was the workshop's highlight that enabled thinking outside the box.
I hope future consultations will bring further insight on how to improve pandemic leadership, how to steer clear of trigger points and improve upon a number of important factors (from vaccine efficacy and access to climate change and everything in between) to guide us towards a better future, as well as prepare us for what is to come."
EPI-WIN webinars
EPI-WIN is hosting a series of webinars on the Infectious Hazards foresight initiative:
- Webinar 1: The usefulness of foresight for improved pandemic preparedness; 21 October 2021 (watch recording)
- Webinar 2: The global trends that are shaping our world (1/2) 26 October 2021
- Webinar 3: The global trends that are shaping our world (2/2) 28 October 2021
- Webinar 4: Four plausible scenarios for the future 2 November 2021
- Webinar 5: Recommendations for the future 10 December 2021
Mental Health Month
Global Youth Mobilization Stories of Impact
This month, Global Youth Mobilization is focusing on youth-led solutions from their national projects and local solutions to highlight stories of impact on mental health and wellbeing in collaboration with our partners.
E-Learning opportunity!
Global School on Refugee and Migrant Health will be held online from 25 to 29 October 2021 with the theme “Sharing country experiences on health and migration
.
The event will feature high-level keynote speeches, keynote lectures from international experts, presentations of relevant research studies, interactive Q&A sessions, and live panel discussions, as well as a series of reportage from different settings presenting the state of the health challenges for refugees and migrants and the responses on the ground.
