CUGH Conference reinforces the importance of partnerships to develop strategies to improve health equity and education

The 2023 Consortium Universities for Global Health (CUGH) Conference took place in-person in Washington, DC from April 14^th-16^th. This year’s conference theme “Global Health at a Crossroads: Equity, Climate Change and Microbial Threats” offered an invaluable opportunity to bring together experts across sectors within the field of Global Health to discuss the most pressing challenges of our times.

CUGH brought together researchers, policymakers, professionals, and students alike to share knowledge and enhance the ever-strengthening network of Global Health practitioners. It offered a plethora of speakers and plenaries, which created a busy weekend of exciting learning and networking opportunities such as the “Great Global Health Debate” asking attendees to question the very definition of global health itself.

Recent McMaster Master of Science (MSc) in Global Health graduate and Global Health Office Research Assistant, Dayna McNeill, attended the conference and participated in a panel session titled “Educational Competencies in Global Health: A Model to Decolonize Global Health Educational Partnerships or Not?”.

In this session, panelists representing universities from around the world, engaged in a thoughtful discussion about developing educational partnerships and ensuring sustainability in educational programming. With a focus on decolonizing the competency focus in global health education as a necessary step to decolonize educational programming, representatives discussed their experiences, successes, and challenges. The panel discussion provided an opportunity for knowledge sharing and lessons learned that can be applied to improve the ways education is delivered for future global health professionals.

These interactive and collaborative opportunities build partnerships that will ultimately enable the achievement of progress on the most pressing global health challenges. The CUGH was one such opportunity that purposefully set the stage for building the necessary intersectoral and transnational collaboration within Global Health policy and practice.

In attendance was also Global Health doctoral student, Omolola Alade, who remarked, “with more than a thousand attendees from across the world, plenary, oral abstracts and poster sessions over 3 days, celebration of global health icons and a great global health debate, the CUGH 2023 conference was the place to be! I made connections with potential mentors and collaborators from Addis Ababa to Lima to San Diego and Nashville. It was an inspiring conference and I look forward to engaging even more at CUGH 2024.”

The culmination of activities challenged attendees to take new perspectives and to think in innovative ways. The CUGH was a platform to share knowledge and network with like-minded individuals from diverse backgrounds and fields reinforcing the importance of local and international partnerships to develop strategies to improve health equity and education.