"we are working towards a paradigm shift in recognizing the leadership of women in responding to the climate crisis."  Eleanor Blomstrom (WEDO)

This year the priority theme at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) has been the empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges.

The Global Gender Climate Alliance (GGCA) and the NGO- CSW Forum co-organized a Learning Circle on Gender and Climate Change with the contribution of groups such as WEDO, UNDP, UN Women, Huairou Commission, Public Health Institute (PHI), UNISDR, IUCN, WOCAN and ENERGIA.  Special Guest respondents included Mrs. Mary Robinson, President of the Mary Robinson Foundation for Climate Justice and Hon. Lulu Xingwana, Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, South Africa

Nearly 150 participants joined in the Learning Circles on Gender and Climate at the CSW56 in NY. The learning circles addressed issues including: Mitigation, Adaptation, Advocacy, Finance, Risk reduction, Grassroots community strategies and Health and food and nutrition security which was facilitated by the Center of Public Health Public Health Institute.

You can find the full report HERE.

I am encouraged by President Obama's nomination of Dartmouth College president Jim Yong Kim, MD, PhD, to head the World Bank. A physician and anthropologist, Dr. Kim’s experience in global health would bring critically important insights to an institution that focuses on alleviating poverty. We can't achieve the Millennium Development goals or reduce poverty without addressing the fundamental importance of health.

Dr. Kim would be the first World Bank president with a significant background in global health. Together with Dr. Paul Farmer in 1987, he co-founded the nonprofit Partners in Health, which supports health programs in poor communities globally. In the organization's Peru work, Dr. Kim helped develop a treatment program for the multiple-drug resistant form of tuberculosis and succeeded in his drive to lower the cost of the medications needed. He is a former director of the World Health Organization's Department of HIV/AIDS, where he led its first major effort to promote treatment for AIDS patients worldwide and helped developing countries scale up their treatment, prevention and care programs.

While accessible, high-quality medical treatment and care is critical to improving a country’s health, addressing the social determinants of health – such as education, environmental conditions and income inequality – is just as important to a country’s health status over the long term and, not surprisingly, its economic development.

I am confident that with his background, Dr. Kim is keenly aware of this interdependent relationship between health and economic development. If ultimately selected to head the World Bank, I am hopeful that Dr. Kim would serve as a forceful advocate for spurring improvements in health outcomes through poverty reductions.