19- 21 February, 2019
WHO CC UTS team members attended and participated in events and panels at the Australasian Aid Conference held at Australian National University (ANU), Canberra. The conference brought together development practitioners, policy stakeholders and researchers from Australia and around the globe to collaborate and share information and learning. Speakers included Mr Frances Adamson (Secretary of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) and Dr Donald Kaberuka (Former President, African Development Bank and Former Minister of Finance, Rwanda). Michele Rumsey from the WHO CC UTS also presented one session to the conference participants, focusing on the important work recently undertaken outlining health education quality improvement and continuing profession development gaps in the Pacific. This work involved an in-depth review of the Pacific Open Learning Health Net (POLHN) for WHO, during which the WHO CC UTS team visited eight Pacific countries and connected with several other islands on line (Solomon Islands, Samoa, Nauru, Kiribati, Fiji, Tuvalu, FSM, Cook Islands, Vanuatu) to interview over 150 stakeholders.
The presentation was well received by stakeholders present, and during the conference, WHO CC UTS members engaged in productive meetings and networking opportunities with partners and practitioners in Aid from across Asia Pacific region.
Whilst in Canberra, the WHO CC team had the opportunity to continue discussions with senior Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) personnel for ongoing collaborative planning around the South Pacific Chief Nursing Midwifery Officers’ Alliance (SPCNMOA) improving the quality of the Pacific nursing workforce program. Important outcomes from the meeting included reinforcing project support from those members present, and planning another discussion with Mr Ewan MacDonald (Head, Office of the Pacific in the DFAT) in the coming months. WHO CC UTS also committed to providing updates and obtaining further feedback from SPCNMOA through regional infrastructure and ongoing regional meetings.