First Cohort of Voices of NCDI Poverty Advocacy Fellows Celebrates Closing Ceremony
/The 2021-2022 cohort of the Voices of NCDI Poverty Advocacy Fellowship met online on January 12 to celebrate the conclusion of their fellowship and to share lessons, accomplishments, and reflections with NCDI Poverty Network colleagues, members of national NCDI Poverty Commissions, supporters from the Advocacy & Financing Working Group of the PEN-Plus Partnership, and representatives of hosting organizations Kathmandu Institute for Child Health (KIOCH) in Nepal, the African Institute for Health and Development (AIHD) in Kenya, Rwanda NCD Alliance, and Uganda Initiative for Integrated Management of Non-Communicable Diseases.
The closing ceremony gave fellows the opportunity to present on the progression of their advocacy work throughout the fellowship period. The event included presentations from all four of the inaugural cohort of fellows:
Anu Gomanju, advocate and person living with rheumatic heart disease from Nepal
Eunice Owino, advocate and sickle cell warrior from Kenya
Moses Echodu, advocate and burkitt lymphoma cancer survivor from Uganda
Paladie Kampuhwe, advocate and person living with type 1 diabetes from Rwanda
The event began with an overview of the Voices of NCDI Poverty Advocacy Fellowship program from NCDI Poverty Network Advocacy Director Maia Olsen. After the fellows gave their capstone presentations, there was a Q&A session and the opportunity for supporters to share their reflections on the program and the fellows’ advocacy journey.
The NCDI Poverty Network Secretariat is collaborating with the graduating group of fellows to evaluate the success of the inaugural fellowship and plan for the next round of the fellowship. The four graduating Fellows all plan to maintain their connections with the NCDI Poverty Network and PEN-Plus Partnership and to continue their advocacy to build a global movement of solidarity among and in support of people living with severe NCDs in low- and lower-middle-income countries.
A recording of the event can be viewed below and the agenda can be found here.
If you are interested in learning more about or collaborating with the Voices of NCDI Poverty program and fellowship, please reach out to Lauren Brown at lbrown@pih.org.