Time: 2:00-3:30pm CAT
Date: 22nd February, 2021

As a continuum of the monthly global debate on social, #AskProfAgnes, a panel of prominent leaders and experts from diverse backgrounds will set out to explore the overlooked injustices persons with disabilities face before and during this current pandemic as well as discuss solutions. 

The panel will aim to offer an opportunity to share evidence, promising practices and policies, and lessons learned on the rights of persons with disabilities. The discussion will explore, from a global, regional, and local perspective, what different institutions – private, government, and civil society – are doing to strengthen the leadership and advocacy for persons with disabilities in Rwanda and beyond.

REGISTER HERE

Host:

Zahirah McNatt (DrPH, MHSA)

Assistant Professor and Godley-St. Goar Chair of the Department of Community Health and Social Medicine, UGHE (Rwanda)

Dr. Zahirah McNatt is the Godley-St. Goar Chair of the Department of Community Health and Social Medicine and Assistant Professor at the University of Global Health Equity. She also serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University. Dr. McNatt has been a consultant in the areas of global health, humanitarian systems and human rights. She has more than 13 years of experience in the Middle East, East Africa, the Americas & Southeast Asia, working on health systems strengthening in partnership with governments — and research in humanitarian settings. Dr. McNatt earned her doctorate from Mailman School of Public Health and has published in BMC Conflict & Health, the Journal of Refugee Studies, BMJ, the Bulletin of the World Health Organization and PLOS ONE.

Chair:

Prof. Agnes Binagwaho, MD, M(Ped), PHD

Vice Chancellor, UGHE (Rwanda)

Professor Agnes Binagwaho is a Rwandan pediatrician who returned to Rwanda in July of 1996, two years after the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. Since then, she has provided clinical care in the public sector, served the Rwandan Health Sector (2001-2016) in high-level government positions, first as the Executive Secretary of Rwanda’s National AIDS Control Commission, then as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, and 5 years as Minister of Health. She co-founded the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE), an initiative of Partners In Health, which focuses on changing how health care is delivered around the world by training global health professionals who strive to deliver more equitable, quality health services for all. Professor Binagwaho currently resides in Rwanda and is the Vice -Chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity. She is specialized in emergency pediatrics, neonatology, and the treatment of HIV/AIDS. She completed her MD at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles and her MA in Pediatrics at the Universite de Bretagne Occidentale. She was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science from Dartmouth College and earned a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Rwanda College of Medicine. Professor Binagwaho currently serves as a Senior Advisor to the Director General of the World Health Organization, and as a member of multiple Advisory Board and Board of Directors including the Rockefeller Foundation Board. She is a member of a number of international working groups and task forces in global health for the United Nations and independent organizations and also sits on the Editorial Board of several scientific journals and serves on multiple scientific commissions. Previously, she co-chaired the Millennium Development Goal Project Task Force on HIV/AIDS and Access to Essential Medicines for the Secretary-General of the United Nations under the leadership of Professor Jeffrey Sachs (MGGs). Professor Binagwaho also co-chaired the Joint Learning Initiative on Children and HIV/AIDS (JLICA) (2006–09) and founded the Rwandan Pediatric Society, chairing it until 2019. Since 2016, she has been a member of the American National Academy of Medicine and since 2017 a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences. In 2015, Professor Binagwaho received the annual Roux Prize and Ronald McDonald House Charities Award of Excellence. She is currently a senior Lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a Professor of Pediatrics at UGHE, as well as an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine. Professor Binagwaho’s academic engagements include research in implementation sciences, research on human rights to health, health services delivery systems strengthening, HIV/AIDS, and pediatric care. She has published over 190 peer- reviewed articles and has recently been nominated in Avance Media’s 2020 100 Most Influential Women in Africa List.

Panelists: 

Maxwell Gomera

UNDP Resident Representative (Rwanda)

Max is a resource economist with over 20 years’ experience in nature conservation and agricultural development. He has worked on economic development issues, including being part of a team that developed the ‘Global Green New Deal’ for reviving the global economy and boosting employment in response to the financial and economic crisis of 2008. ‘The 2008 crisis offered many lessons. An enduring one for me was the need for us to take time for introspection and make sure that we are building futures for ourselves that have a purpose far greater than the zeroes on a bank balance,’ he said. Max has worked extensively with governments and corporates from across the world on a range of issues, including tourism development, human rights and wildlife management. ‘Until the people who live with wildlife recognise them as an important resource, the future for wildlife will remain uncertain,’ he said. Max is a Senior Fellow of Aspen New Voices. He is an accomplished writer and has written for many National and Global mainstream newspapers and media – and is also widely published. He has been a member of many Boards. Max is married and has two daughters and a son – they all love Arsenal Football Club.

Dr. Cheri Blauwet

Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Network, Harvard Medical School (USA)

Dr. Cheri Blauwet is an Assistant Professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School and an attending physician at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. She serves as Chair of the Mass General Brigham COVID Disability Task Force as well as the City of Boston Mayor’s Health Equity Task Force. Dr. Blauwet is also a former Paralympic athlete in the sport of wheelchair racing, competing for the United States Team in three Paralympic Games (Sydney ’00, Athens ’04, Beijing ’08). In 2016, she was the recipient of the Harvard Medical School Harold Amos Faculty Diversity Award.  

Claudine Humure

Partnership Coordinator, UGHE & member of the Rwanda Society of Prosthetists and Orthotists (Rwanda)

Claudine Humure is a Partnership Coordinator at the University of Global Health Equity, where she serves as the in-country host for the university’s donors, partners, and other guests. As a member of the Rwanda Society for Prosthetists & Orthotists (RSPO), Ms. Humure has worked on several projects to advocate for and support amputees and the wider disability community in Rwanda. She has worked at the MIT Media Lab with the biomechatronics group and at Autodesk Inc. as a research intern. She designed a 3D printable prosthetic socket for transfemoral amputees, a project that earned her the OZY Genius Award. 

Rupsa Mallik

Director of Programs and Innovation, Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action (India)

Rupsa Mallik, Director, Programs and Innovation, CREA is responsible for developing and implementing strategic initiatives and programs in India, South Asia region and at the global level. She provides programmatic oversight for CREA’s work at the intersection of disability, gender and sexuality.  Rupsa has over two decades experience in advocating for sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender equity and justice in various capacities. Previously, she has worked with the National Foundation for India, Centre for Health and Gender Equity in the US and South Asia Regional Office of the International Planned Parenthood Federation among others.  Rupsa Mallik, Director, Programs and Innovation, CREA is responsible for developing and implementing strategic initiatives and programs in India, South Asia region and at the global level. She provides programmatic oversight for CREA’s work at the intersection of disability, gender and sexuality.  Rupsa has over two decades experience in advocating for sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender equity and justice in various capacities. Previously, she has worked with the National Foundation for India, Centre for Health and Gender Equity in the US and South Asia Regional Office of the International Planned Parenthood Federation among others.