07 Jan HRH2030 Director’s Digest: January 2020
January 2020: Looking Ahead to the Soaring ’20s
Dear Colleagues,
Happy New Year from all of us at HRH2030! Can you believe it is the start of a new decade? I’m feeling incredibly optimistic about what the upcoming decade holds in store for us, and one of the reasons why is because of the many advancements made over the past few decades.
It’s easy to be a pessimist when one thinks about the scale of problems we’re grappling with around the globe. But it’s important to note that we have made steady progress in some areas, such as reducing poverty and child mortality, in recent decades. Furthermore, I believe that some of this year’s events—such as the declaration on universal health coverage—are furthering a true commitment to gender equality and a renewed call to action on this front. Yes, we have a way to go, but being optimistic about our future path is the healthier option, wouldn’t you agree? Much of my sense of optimism is inspired by the energy and enthusiasm of the next generation of leaders in public health, such as these young family planning champions and this group of young changemakers. I can’t wait to see what they’ll do over the next few years! If the 1920s were the “Roaring Twenties,” I’m hoping that the 2020s will be the “Soaring Twenties”—a decade with a greater sense of inclusion, one wherein all marginalized populations will access their rights and countries will make great leaps toward #HealthForAll.
Closer to home, I am also inspired by many of our global HRH2030 project activities, as highlighted in this recent video.
HRH2030 2019 Highlights from HRH2030 Program on Vimeo.
This month’s newsletter has some other highlights: five of the HRH2030 stories you, our readers, found most compelling. Our most-accessed website story of 2019 wasn’t just a story, it was a podcast on stopping TB in the Philippines. Our second most-read story was on Ebola preparedness, a critical topic that will continue to remain important this year, as evident by the U.S.’s recent declaration that this month is “One Health Awareness Month.” The three remaining stories with the most website visitors included another contribution from the Philippines, introducing the Workload Indicators of Staffing Needs; a look at professionalizing community health workers; and this blog advocating for a greater leadership role for midwives.
Speaking of midwives—did you know that 2020 is the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife? This worldwide initiative will focus on how we can advocate for nurses and midwives to be better supported by governments as we move toward Universal Health Coverage. This is an important effort, and we’ll have more content related to this in the coming months. We also have a big announcement planned for later this month related to recognizing health workers in a different way, which will appear on the new home page of our website. Follow us (or subscribe to this newsletter if you don’t already) and you’ll be one of the first to know about what we’ve got planned.
Wishing you a successful January!
Warm regards,
Wanda Jaskiewicz
Project Director, HRH2030