Women Leaders & Health

Women Leaders & Health: Empowering women leaders in innovation, medical education and healthcare delivery

AIWF is exceptionally proud to partner with the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and Host Partner and Conference Partner the American University of Beirut (AUB) on Women Leaders & Health in April 2019, a much-needed and timely initiative that brings into focus key challenges and opportunities for women’s leadership in medical education, innovation and healthcare delivery.

The conference will draw the Arab public and private sectors, international development organisations and institutes, civil society, women and youth together to examine opportunities and barriers to entry for women leaders in medicine and the healthcare sciences and will deliver actionable recommendations for empowering women in these critical sectors towards fulfilment of the SDGs on gender diversity and maternal and children’s health.

Conference sessions will explore the fostering of an inclusive and empowering environment for women-led innovation, research and discovery through regional and international best practices; building capacity for women in medicine in the Arab world and globally, through technology, training, entrepreneurship, executive leadership and social enterprise; and bringing Arab and international women leaders together to reflect on the region’s most critical health challenges head on, through cross-border collaboration, capacity building, medical education and gender diversity in medicine and the health sciences.

Panel sessions of the conference will be aligned with the core priority policy areas of AIWF, UMMS and AUB, and will include:

1 Transforming medical education for the next generation of women in medicine and health sciences
Fostering an inclusive and empowering environment for women-led innovation, research and discovery through regional and international best practices

2 Advancing women’s leadership and intra/entrepreneurship in medical and healthcare sciences
Building capacity for women in medicine in the Arab world and globally, through technology, training, intra/entrepreneurship, executive leadership and social enterprise

3 Reflections of women leaders in healthcare and medical education: Mentoring next generation, women-led innovation, discovery and leadership in medicine and health sciences
Arab and international women leaders reflect on meeting the region’s most critical health challenges through cross-border collaboration, capacity building, education and gender diversity in medicine and the healthcare sciences

Women Leaders & Health will deliver a unique opportunity for key stakeholders in the international medical, academic and development communities to come together to examine emerging opportunities and barriers to entry for women leaders and innovators in medical education and healthcare delivery. The conference programme is driven by the following key objectives:

1. Examine the important role of women in addressing critical health and development challenges such as the unprecedented refugee maternal mortality crisis and other region-specific public health priorities (including breast cancer, obesity, depression and maternal and infant health)

2. Call for recognition at all levels of the unique position of women to lead on and deliver innovative and transformative new solutions towards fulfilment not only of global and regional humanitarian obligations but also towards key SDGs related to women’s and children’s health and empowerment

3. Advocate for multi-stakeholder support for women to enter into medical education and progress in medical careers, innovation and healthcare discovery from the public and private sectors, international development organisations, education providers and crucially, at societal level to combat barriers to entry for high-achieving young women to enter medical and healthcare delivery careers

The Arab International Women’s Forum, the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the American University of Beirut look forward to working with all partners and participants to deliver a highly interactive, impact-driven conference that will advance women’s leadership and women-led innovation in medical education and healthcare delivery in the MENA region and internationally and will carry forward the recommendations of the Cairo Declaration on Women’s Health (signed in February 2017) towards fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals.