Red Cross global health partnership launch: invitation to guest lecture

27 Oct 2011

The University of Manchester and The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) will be launching a partnership in the field of global health on Tuesday, 1 November.

The teaching and research partnership will be coordinated through the University’s renowned Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) and aims to provide affordable and world-class learning and training opportunities to students with an interest in global health issues.

Full details of the collaboration will be announced on Tuesday, when a launch event will be held at the University with a guest lecture by Dr Mukesh Kapila, Under Secretary General for National Society and Knowledge Development at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva.

The launch event and lecture, entitled, ‘Experimenting with leadership: trials and tribulations’, will take place in Lecture Theatre A, University Place, Oxford Road, between 5pm and 7pm.

Dr Kapila is a Senior Member of Hughes Hall College at Cambridge University, Associate Fellow of the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute at The University of Manchester and an Associate at the Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria, Canada.

He is chair of the Council of Minority Rights Group International, was an early member of the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination system, and served on the Boards of the UN Institute for Training and Research, and the International Peace Academy.

Dr Kapila was born in India and came on a Commonwealth scholarship to high school (Wellington College) in the UK. He went on to qualify in medicine and public health from the Universities of Oxford and London. He was honoured for international service with a CBE and has also received the Dr Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award of the Institute for Global Leadership.

Previous roles include: Special Advisor to the United Nations in Afghanistan and to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Sudan; Director in Health Action in Crises at the World Health Organization; Senior Policy Adviser to the World Bank Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery; and Head of Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs at the UK Government Department for International Development.

Prior to the guest lecture there will be the official signing of the Memorandum of Agreement by Dr Kapila and Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester.

To register your place please email hcri@manchester.ac.uk

Full Programme:

• 5pm: Drinks Reception, (EATS restaurant, ground floor, University Place)
• 5.45pm: Welcome and official signing of the Memorandum of Agreement by Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell and Dr Mukesh Kapila
• 6pm: Experimenting with leadership: trials and tribulations — Dr Mukesh Kapila
• 6.30pm: Q&A session chaired by Professor Bertrand Taithe(HCRI Executive Director). Panel members: Dr Mukesh Kapila(Under Secretary General, National Society and Knowledge Development, IFRC), Dr Rony Brauman(HCRI Director) and Professor Tony Redmond(HCRI Deputy Director)
• 7pm: Close

About HCRI:

As defined in the strategy Advancing the Manchester 2015 Agenda, The University of Manchester has a clear goal forsocial responsibility such that it will make the institution a forcefor good, locally, nationally and internationally, by bringingknowledge to bear on the great issues facing the world in the21st century, and by producing graduates prepared to exercisesocial leadership and environmental responsibility. We areproud to invest in the pioneering collaborative venture with IFRC and thus realize this goal on a global scale using our own Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) to deliver practical and affordable online postgraduate teaching in global health. HCRI is inspired by the need to conduct rigorous research and support postgraduate training on the impact and outcomes of contemporary and historical crises, and embraces this opportunity to develop a scholarly and professional agenda for humanitarians around the world.

About IFRC:

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest volunteer-based humanitarian network, reaching 150 million people each year through our 186 member National Societies. Together, we act before, during and after disasters and health emergencies to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people. It does so with impartiality as to nationality, race, gender, religious beliefs, class and political opinions. IFRC is developing a learning and knowledge sharing network whose main aims are to boost access to accredited learning and training and to promote analysis and research on humanitarian and development concerns of importance to its network. IFRC are collaborating with HCRI to begin the realisation of this vision.