QoG-Lancet policydag 2024: Policy pathways to sustainable well-being and peace

Welcome to the Policy Day organized by the Quality of Government Institute and the Lancet Commission on Peaceful Societies through Health Equity and Gender Equality on the theme: “Policy pathways to sustainable well-being and peace: "How do we protect or even improve institutional quality, health equity and gender equality under crisis and conflict?"

We are excited to announce that a Policy Day co-organized by the Quality of Government Institute at the University of Gothenburg and the Lancet Commission on Peaceful Societies through Health Equity and Gender Equality will be held in Gothenburg on November 26^th, 2024. During this day, academics and practitioners will discuss the findings and policy implications of the Lancet Commission Report on Peaceful Societies through Health Equity and Gender Equality (The Lancet Commission on peaceful societies through health equity and gender equality - The Lancet) and build on this foundation by looking more deeply into how we protect or even improve institutional quality, health equity and gender equality under crisis and conflict.

This Lancet Commission was launched to understand the interaction between SDG 3 on Good Health and Well-Being, SDG 5 on Gender Equality and SDG 16 on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. The commission’s research established an empirical foundation for the mutually beneficially reinforcing relationship between health equity, gender equality, and peace and the mutually harmfully reinforcing relationship between health inequity, gender inequality and violence. The report also contributed to international global policy development by providing practical and actionable guidance and recommendations to communities, civil society groups, states and international institutions on how to transition societies from the harmful to the beneficial cycles as depicted in the figure below.

Join us for this Policy Day that will engage with and develop this framework for informing policy pathways to sustainable well-being and peace! 

Preliminary Program

9.30am – 10am Registration and Coffee

10am – 12pm Opening Session

Presentation of the Lancet Commission Report on peaceful societies through health equity and gender equality by Commissioners, by Amy Alexander (Associate Professor, University of Gothenburg) and Sara Causevic (Postdoctoral Fellow, Stockholm University)

Presentation from the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (WHO EMRO), by Karin Tegmark Wisell, Sweden’s Ambassador for Global Health

After each presentation, there will be time for questions and discussion.

11.45am – 1pm Lunch 

1pm – 4pm Parallel Panel Sessions Organized by Topics Below with Presenters Listed

Policy pathways to health and peace through women’s inclusion under fragile contexts

Gunilla Backman (Policy Specialist, The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)) on fragility and crises as a window of opportunity for gender equality and the right to health

Valeriya Mechkova (Assistant Professor University of Gothenburg) on the influence of women’s political representation on health-care outcomes

Kristen Kao (Associate Professor, University of Gothenburg) on women’s inclusion in post-conflict reconciliation in the Middle East

Health system resilience and health as a bridge to peace under fragility and crisis

Abeer Ahmad (Researcher, Stockholm International Peace Research (SIPRI)), on how health system resilience mitigates the impact of conflict on healthcare access

Daniel Carelli (Postdoctoral Researcher, Chalmers University) on global health governance and the case of antimicrobial resistance under Conflict/Crisis

Mathilde Boddaert, Technical Officer for the Global Health and Peace Initiative (GHPI), World Health Organization, Title TBA

Espen Bjertness (Professor, University of Oslo), Title TBA

Development cooperation in fragile contexts

Anna Svensson (Senior Public Health Advisor, Swedish Red Cross), on humanitarian assistance before, under and after crisis

Transparency International’s Global Health Programme, Title TBA

Anna Persson and Hayden Buker (Quality of Government Institute, Gothenburg University), on the evaluation of Swedish Development Cooperation

Protecting children, refugees, and SRHR under fragile contexts

Ewa Wikström (holder of Professorship in global child and adolescent health, Gothenburg University), Title TBA

Annika Sandlund (Representative to Nordic and Baltic countries, UNHCR, and UN Refugee Agency), Title TBA

Karina Nersesyan (Country Representative, UNFPA Country Office Moldova), Title TBA

Policy pathways to institutional quality through the engagement of civil society and citizens under fragile contexts

Monika Bauhr (Professor, University of Gothenburg) on social bargaining, transparency, and the quality of public service provision

Marcia Grimes (Professor, University of Gothenburg) on civil society and bottom-up accountability

Annekatrin Deglow (Assistant Professor, Uppsala University) on conflict, political violence, and citizens’ willingness to accept restrictions on their political and civil rights

Nicholas Charron and Victor Lapuente (Professors, University of Gothenburg) on trust, polarization, populism and COVID-19 deaths across European regions

Concluding Session 4-4.30pm

Mingle: 4.30-5.15pm

Drinks and light finger food will be served