March Meeting 2020 by Mahmood Al-Hamody, Director on Human Rights and Peace
At the dawn of a new decade, SCORPions came together from all over the world to meet in Rwanda, to discuss the wide variety of crises and human rights issues that impact our lives and to find ways to workon them together. SCORP Sessions in the March Meeting challenged the status quo in the content as well as methodology, by introducing new ideas, concepts and by reflecting on past experiences and embracing change when necessary. Over the course of five days filled with discussions, SCORPions explored different human rights perspectives and initiatives, aspects of the Rule of Law and its relation to health and IFMSA, and the role of healthcare providers in humanitarian settings among, as well as discussed and engaged promoting a safe space within the meeting. The sessions offered a platform for the participants to exchange thoughts, ideas and good practices; learn from each other; and support each other to participate meaningfully, and to make an impact. And because discussions alone may not solve deep rooted problems, there was an emphasis on SCORPions taking action on grassroots level, in the communities.
Discussions can never end, with human rights still in a vulnerable situation around the world, there are still much more to reflect on, tackle and take action on to human rights, to peace … and beyond!
You can find the materials from the session [here], and the report of the meeting [here].
External Representation Updates By Tammy Yu, Liaison Officer for Human Rights and Peace
Events in Green
Healthcare in Danger - PreMM20 by Berkehan Erkılıç, SCORP Capacity Building Development Assistant
It Is A Matter of Life & Death!
It is happening right now. Couple of hours of a flight away, some children are being denied sanitation and proper schooling while a doctor is held under captivity obstructing orderly treatment of patients, at gunpoint. Warfare is not the sandbox of the few whose tables that casualties remain as a number and fates of masses are subject to a sheer Russian Roulette.
At the heart of this seemingly complex equation lies the healthcare workers. Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and first-aiders are coming under attack while trying to save lives. They are threatened, arrested or beaten, their hospitals looted or bombed. Some are unable to work and some forced to flee, and even killed.
To advocate for these, we rejuvenated our HCiD workshop this PreMM20 which contained a broad range of topics and gave rise to so many inspirational discussions. We hosted a set of brilliant participants and an external, Carol Bales from our external partner Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition.
Sadly, the core of our profession is centered around medical ethics and beneficence and usually the neutral nature of our domain is exploited. All the violent acts against these groups are prohibited under international humanitarian law ,also known as the law of war, because they deprive sick and wounded people of much-needed care. It is up to us, the future of healthcare to raise the voice, to act and to stand in solidarity with them, with us.
Preventing violence against health care is a matter of life and death.
Generation Equality:
How can we empower young women to realize gender equality?
Passing the mic By Ishika Kaul, MSAI-India
25 years have passed since the Beijing Platform for Action set out to achieve equality for women. Despite some progress, real change has been agonizingly slow for the majority of women and girls in the world. Women remain undervalued, they continue to work more, earn less, have fewer choices, and experience multiple forms of violence at home and in public spaces. We, being generation equality, must step forward if we wish to see the change in our lifetime.
How do we achieve this? We pass the mic!
It is important that we validate women's self-expression. Women's narratives are vastly underrepresented in the media and popular culture, so we must applaud her for speaking. We encourage her to report any instances of violence and stand with her.We advocate for the education of young girls, as an educated woman is an empowered woman. It opens opportunities for her growth socially, economically and politically and has a direct effect on her health and that of the future generation.
Women must be encouraged to assume leadership roles in various spheres of society, be it school unions, organisations, trainings, workplaces or political settings. Awareness programmes need to be organised for creating awareness among women especially belonging to weaker sections about their rights.
Unconscious biases often exist. Therefore, we start with checking our own beliefs and encouraging the discussion of biases in our settings when we notice a lack of inclusivity and diversity. Standing together, we call attention to other women's suffering, even when we're not among them. This solidarity would go a long way in taking the feminist movements further and realising our goal of equality.
In the end, it boils down to the individual and collective efforts of every community, organisation and society.
Bring women into the conversation. Pass the mic and listen!
Equality Made Right ByMariem Galaaoui, Associamed-Tunisia and Ahmed M. Saleh from IFMSA-Egypt
Despite great humanitarian efforts, the EMR stands lacking action in the field of gender equality. To better understand the current situation, let’s take a closer look at obstacles in the path of gender equality in Egypt and Tunisia. Both countries still have a long way of fighting the gender pay gap, FGM, child marriage, participation in the labor force and political representation. Thus, it rests upon our shoulders, IFMSA Members, as future medical practitioners to guide our region to achieve gender equality.
Our role stands on 2 axes, the first of them is the public. Raising awareness remains our unbeatable way in the face of challenges like these. Even as just medical students, the general public puts their trust in us as future doctors, thus our words are as impactful. In the future as medical professionals, we always have to spread the message directly related to gender-based violence tackling all the related issues even if you don’t suspect the patient to be a victim of any form of inequality.
The second axis is the current medical professionals. We should prepare training sessions and manuals to show them how to recognize, deal, and follow up with patients who are victims of inequality, to remedy the problem as quickly as possible.
To make this come true, we should start by building strong capacities among ourselves of advocates and trainers to be the frontline in our war against Inequality, a war that won’t be won by brute force but with love and kindness.
From SCORPions
Humanism for All By Beatriz Aranha, ANEM-Portugal
How can we fight for our rights?
I would consider the first step the self-assurance of one’s privilege. Where do I stand? In which field of my daily life do I feel privileged, the fittest to survive?
Then, the easier part: am I unprivileged, inferior, unfit or even misfit?
Third step: get informed, know your environment: its History, culture and legal system. The prejudice and preconception are structural and grounded in deep deep roots. Finding one guilty group to blame is a reductionist approach.
The Psychologist Jordan Peterson claims using expressions as “Oppressive Patriarchy” and “toxic masculinity” could do more harm than good to both sexes, since it’s splitting them apart. He cites studies showing that men tend to be more assertive, while women more agreeable. These could be responsible for the dissimilar types of jobs, if they get a promotion or not (wages gap), bringing to light the term Equity instead of Equality.
Was this hard to read? It was once for me too...I would like to share a little advice to those that are willing to change mindsets and behaviours:
When your opinion is close to a dogma, rethink it, doubt, change. Only through hearing distinct perspective and beliefs can you strengthen your own arguments and have a more profound knowledge on the subject.
Everything around you was made by people no more intelligent than you, better than you and this is why you could have an impact, and this is why the smallest step of yours could lead to a worldwide change.
Feminism is humanism. We all are human, simply human. Defending our rights should be as natural as the wind that blows, as essential as the everyday meal, as joyful as a warming sunset with the company of our beloved ones.
SCORP Related Programs
Programs are streams of different activities done by NMOs and IFMSA at local, national and international levels. Programs address problems within a specific field that we as students and global health advocates work on, connecting local and international activities and creating opportunities to contribute together towards a final outcome.
Are you:
Working on an activity and want to improve it with the help of our program coordinators?
Wanting toincrease the impact of your activity and show it to the rest of the world?
Looking for a certfication to your activity and to showcase it through international platforms such as the Activities Fairs or the Rex Crossley Awards.
If you answered yes to one the questions above, your way is to enroll your activity under one of the IFMSA Programs!
