Health is the foundation for well-being for individuals and families, and an essential foundation for peacebuilding – if we aren’t healthy, how can we effectively invest in peace?
Yet, health is a global challenge: from maternal health and infant and material mortality, diabetes, malnutrition, infectious diseases, and access to quality health care. Global Peace Women (GPW) held its third webinar of the GPW enrichment program series on 23rd September, exploring the implications of the GPW approach to improving family and community health.
Aisha Bukar Ali, the founder of Diabetes Awareness and Enlightenment Organization (DHEO) in Nigeria shared from her experience in championing the prevention, treatment and control of diabetes through proper care and management, Aisha expounded on the role of women as primary caretakers in the home and how they are crucial in creating positive results in ensuring improved family and community health.
“Arming women with knowledge about diabetes, its care, management, and treatment will create positive results in the fight against the disease,” she said.
Wairimu Mwangi from Kenya shared about her GPWLA project to help improve the holistic maternal health of teen mothers, both body, heart and mind.
The women brought real experience and practical applications to the discussions of how women are essential players in improving family and community health, and recognizing that health is not only a biological phenomenon, but also a social and cultural one, influenced by the context and conditions in which people live, work, and interact. The principles and values outlined in the GPW approach has helped guide the design, implementation, and evaluation of health interventions that aim to improve the health outcomes and quality of life of women and families.
The women brainstormed family-based support plans, guided by Aisha’s insights on how to engage women and family in improving health. Plans included: education, diet and meal planning, health weight management, increased awareness of genetic predisposition, psychological support, encourage regular health screenings.
Women and family play an important role in ensuring individual and community health. Adopting healthy habits begins in the home and women through their generational role of nurturing have a role in ensuring they raise healthy families.
Register now for our next webinar on Women in Regional Peacebuilding: Collaboration for Sustainable Change. Join us to learn how to foster collaboration, dialogue, and cooperation in addressing complex conflicts and discover the unique role women play in peacebuilding, from resolving family conflicts to facilitating international cooperation.
