Candidature for the Position of Liaison Officer to the World Health Organization
Candidature IFMSA LIASION OFFICER TO THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION for the term 2014-2015
Pedro Correia de Miranda 1
Dear friends, I am truly motivated to present you my candidature for Liaison Officer to the World Health Organization, for the term 2014-‐2015. My name is Pedro Correia de Miranda, I am a final year medical student in Portugal, and currently serve our Federation as Liaison Officer to Student Organizations. My engagement with IFMSA started not too long ago, but since it’s beginning, it was, beyond doubt, one of the most enriching, fast, and fascinating experiences I’ve had. In only 6 months, I jumped from attending my first GA to being elected as an IFMSA Official. During that time, I literally fell in love with our Federation, the work it does and the people it has. This was what motivated me to apply to, and gave you confidence to elect me as, Liaison Officer to Student Organizations. As LOSO, I had as top priority to understand what were NMOs’ needs, and provide them with the most specific and tailored aid possible. Attending all Regional Meetings and Team of Officials’ Meetings was, besides and amazing experience and way to get to know the entire federation, the means to show medical students worldwide what LOSO does, but, most importantly, to understand from medical students worldwide what LOSO should do!
Candidature for the Position of Liaison Officer to the World Health Organization
With this mindset, the huge experience gathered, the skills learnt,
and the bonds made throughout this year, I feel it would be selfish not to give back to the Federation what the Federation gave to me. I see Liaison Officer to the World Health Organization as the best position to achieve this goal, in the most meaningful, fruitful and truly grateful way.
Having attended two World Health Assemblies and Youth PreWHAs, one as participant and one as an IFMSA Official and OC member, my experience within the WHO itself is far from huge. However, my familiarity with WHO around the world is both my motivation to write this letter, and the main asset I have to give to our federation. During the past year, I attended many meetings organized, promoted, or attended by WHO, all over the world, on a vast range of issues. Seeing the World Health Organization actually thinking globally and acting locally, motivates and inspires me to truly bring each and every NMO, and its members, as close to WHO as possible. I believe that IFMSA has learnt a lot, and still has a lot to learn, from the partnership recently established with PAHO. Without taking importance to the work done in Geneva, this approach and state of mind will be the backbone of my way of working, as bringing WHO Regional
3
Offices closer to IFMSA Regions is the most complete way for our members to get to know WHO’s work, and engage with it.
Finally, the massive experience of external representation that IFMSA gave to me this year, at the WHO, at the UN, at the YFJ (European Youth Forum) and in ICMYO Taskforce (International Coordination Meeting of Youth Organizations) and so many other organizations, is my best tool to keep up with the ongoing work of the Liaison Officer to WHO, in Geneva. WHO is a huge organization, with a tricky structure, and an amazing amount of work done! We need to get to know this, and WHO needs to get to know us! However, I shall not be more than a link between WHO and our federation, as having as main goal to bring WHO to all IFMSA, means no more than bring it to all its Regions, to all its NMOs, to all medical students across the world: to you!
Yours faithfully,
_________________________________ Pedro Correia de Miranda
Candidature for the Position of Liaison Officer to the World Health Organization
Plan of Action Setting the right goals is the major challenge when writing a Plan of Action. The goals I now define will be the guideline for the work I will develop and it is, therefore of utmost importance that these goals disclose a huge will to work and reach high quality work, but are set upon realistic objectives, framed within the reform process that IFMSA is currently living.
Taking this into account, should I be elected IFMSA’s Liasion Officer
to the World Health Organization, my effort will be put in order to strain on the following goals: 1) Bring WHO to IFMSA 2) Take IFMSA to WHO 3) Capacity Building 4) Communication and Coordination Being always available to learn and better understand what NMOs need from LO-‐WHO, narrowing the gap between IFMSA and WHO will be my biggest objective and motivation throughout the upcoming year. 1) Bringing WHO to IFMSA Our Federation works under the slogan “think global, act local” and this is exactly what I plan to do. Together with Regional Coordinators, I plan to bring together IFMSA’s regions and WHO’s Regional Offices, having PAMSA and PAHO as a role model. This will allow a close collaboration that provides direct support to and meaningful collaboration with our regions, namely by seeking for potential internships, fostering
5
communication, and having active IFMSA participation in regional and/or thematic consultations.
Moreover, WHO has national offices spread around the world, which
can provide a tailored support to our NMOs, with a deep insight of national reality and concerns. More than in Geneva or Regional Offices, successful engagement of medical students worldwide with WHO will happen via their NMOs and WHO national offices and because this is possible, is will be my priority.
Furthermore, brining WHO to IFMSA requires medical students to
know what WHO is and what WHO does. To ensure this happens, regular WHO updates shall be issued, namely via official servers and social media. In a time efficient manner, WHO Bulletin and main publications, major news and messages, and relevant events will be widely disseminated.
Finally, with the ultimate goals of providing equal access to
information and allowing medical students to organize their own agendas, the creation and constant update of a WHO event database, sorted into national, regional and global levels, will be a priority. 2) Bringing IFMSA to WHO
IFMSA has an established partnership WHO for a long time now, and
this happens because, on one hand, WHO provides us with amazing opportunities, on the other, because we have a lot to provide WHO with. It is my belief that we do this through high-level, organized, impactful advocacy, and establishment of meaningful partnerships. Both are unfinished ongoing processes, and it will be a priority to develop them to their fullest extent. Should I be elected, the LO-‐WHO will ensure the most adequate advocacy strategy is implemented, and work in order to better
Candidature for the Position of Liaison Officer to the World Health Organization
explore both existent and new potential partnerships with WHO Departments. 3) Capacity Building The Team of Officials, above all, executes the will of medical students, stated on General Assemblies. Therefore, capacity building is, and should be, a top priority for any official. As LO-‐WHO, there are very specific ways of building capacity: a) General Assemblies & Regional Meetings: Should I be elected, my 2 main goals will be to ensure, together with the event’s OC and relevant officials, the presence of requested WHO experts (to deliver sessions or speeches, share expertise, and provide insight from the inside of the organization) in the event; the continuity of WHO sessions, namely as PreGAs or PreRMs (A good example of this was the 2011 Pre-‐GA that had the first TOTA, with the attendence WHO externals). b) World Health Assembly and Youth PreWHA: Already going to its 3rd edition, the Youth PreWHA is the best opportunity, organized by IFMSA, to provide medical students access to the core of WHO. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to timely create an OC and send out relevant calls, to wisely set up the agenda of the event and select the most adequate externals, to fund and provide aid to as many participants as possible, and to coordinate the highest moment of IFMSA’s advocacy strategy throughout the year. 4) Communication & Coordination
Should I be elected LO-‐WHO, I will fully commit to communicate and coordinate all relevant work related to WHO. One of the biggest means of 7
communication between our federation and WHO is the Internship Program that has long been established. Besides the normal function of facilitating these internships, I will try to address what, for me, are it’s two main problems (and potentials): the financial burden and accessibility of the internships; and the medical student manpower IFMSA has in Geneva. At the moment, the lack of financial aid (and payment) to interns, and the duration of the internships, leaves out dozens of potentially amazing candidates every year. Working hard on seeking for adequate funding, and negotiating the time spans of these internships will be my two main strategies to address these issues. Furthermore, Regional and National Offices of WHO can provide internships if requested and negotiated, which would tremendously increase access to this amazing experience. Therefore, establishing communication channels with WHO Offices to start as many high-level internships as possible will deserve my full commitment.
Furthermore, WHO interns are, above all, medical students: they are
therefore IFMSA manpower at WHO Headquarters, and I believe the LO- WHO and WHO Interns should work as closely together as possible. Establishing and maintaining an interns’ database and scheduling one online meeting every month will be my 2 main steps to start this collaboration, envisioning a scenario where interns and the LO-‐WHO can mutually help each other in fulfilling there tasks. On one hand Interns, many times, lack background or logistical aid that IFMSA can provide; On the other hand they also have the in loco experience of being continuously updated on the work and discussions inside WHO, which is knowledge and information of tremendous value to the federation.
As LO-‐WHO, I intend to coordinate delegations to all relevant
WHO-‐related events. By this, I plan to, in contact with other relevant officials, promote all relevant events, open calls with appropriate timing, fairly select the delegation, provide the delegation all the background, aid,
Candidature for the Position of Liaison Officer to the World Health Organization
information and training required, and join the delegation, whenever relevant and in-‐person or represented by someone else, with the purpose of coordinating IFMSA’s advocacy strategy on the event itself. The timeline of all this processes is of utmost importance, as IFMSA potentially has the power to change global advocacy agendas and provide meaningful input on many decision-making processes, but such will only happen if the coordination of the delegation is done in an organized manner, follow-ups accordingly to work done by previous delegations, and fully reports to the federation the outcomes accomplished. The World Health Assembly (WHA) and the Regional Committee Sessions will be the main targets of this mindset, but these should be the criteria used in the attendance of all relevant meetings.
Finally, should I be elected LO-WHO, and above all as an IFMSA
Official that attended so many cross-cutting events around the World for the past 12 months, I believe that I will have the huge responsibility of centralizing, and sharing, knowledge and information, with the sole goal of serving IFMSA and the advocacy it does, in the best way I can. Should I be able to centralize and process the insight and information of the whole federation, and its members, have, I can ensure that it is used in the most efficient way possible, aligned with the work developed by other Liaison Officers, and the goals pursued by the Federation, its projects, its initiatives, its regions, its NMOs, and above all, each and everyone of its members. 9
Curriculum Vitae Personal Details Name: Pedro Rocha e Castro Correia de Miranda Nationality: Portugal Birth Date: October 24, 1990 Address: Rua Dr. Barbosa de Castro 72 5º esq 4050-090, Porto, Portugal Cell Phone: (00351)913549233 Email: pedrocorreiademiranda@gmail.com Skype: pedrocorreiademiranda Languages Portuguese Native language English
A Level, UCAS University of Cambridge
2007
Italian
B1 Level, at Università per Stranieiri di Siena
2011
Chinese
IGCSE
2nd
Language
Extended,
UCAS 2006
(Mandarin) University of Cambridge French
B2 Level, at The Oporto International School
2007
Spanish
B2 Level, at The Oporto International School
2007
Creole
Basic Level, Work experience as volunteer in 2012 Guine-Bissau
Academic Qualifications 1994-2007
The Oporto International School
Porto, Portugal
2007-2008
Portuguese Catholic University
Porto, Portugal
Undergraduate in Bioengineering 2008-current
Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute
Porto, Portugal
Candidature for the Position of Liaison Officer to the World Health Organization
2011
Master in Medicine, 6th year Università La Sapienza
Rome, Italy
4th Year, ERASMUS Past Experience 2012
- AEICBAS - local committee
Porto,
2013
Full member of the board, department of Medicine
Portugal
January
ANEM - PorMSIC
Portugal
2013
– Secretary General
January 2014 March 2013 Current
Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute - Member of the Pedagogical Council of Faculty of
Porto, Portugal
Medicine
Current Experience International Federation of Medical Student’s Association (IFMSA) Participant -‐ Training for New Trainers – Lisbon 2012 Participant -‐ Pre-‐GA MM 2013 – Global Health Advocacy, New York, USA Participant -‐ March Meeting 2013 – SCOME Sessions, Baltimore, USA Participant -‐ Post-‐GA 2013 – AMSA Annual Convention, Washington, USA Participant -‐ Training Old Trainers – Pre-‐European Regional Meeting 2013, Morlupo, Italy Participant -‐ X European Regional Meeting 2013 – SCOME Sessions, Chieti, Italy Participant -‐ Pre-‐WHA 2013, Geneva, Switzerland Participant -‐ WHA 2013, Geneva, Switzerland Organizing Committee of WAMTE, July 2013, Portugal. Coordination Team – Pre-‐GA AM 2013, Health Beyond 2015 & Global Health Workers, Chile 11
Plenary Secretary, AM 2013 TOM 0, August 2013, Santiago de Chile, Chile Coordinator, TNT Pre-‐APRM September 2013, Indonesia Participant -‐ APRM September 2013 – SCOME Sessions, Indonesia TOM 1, October 2013, Athens, Greece Co-‐coordinator – Pre African RM, December 2013, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia TOM 2, January 2014, Panama, Panama Pre PAMSA RM, January 2014, Panama, Panama PAMSA RM, January 2014, Panama Panama Coordinator – TOT PreEMR RM, January 2014, Kuwait, Kuwait Participant – EMR RM – SCOME Sessions, Januart 2014, Kuwait, Kuwait TOM 3, March 2014, Hammamet, Tunisia MM 2014, Hammamet, Tunisia TOM 4, April 2014, Roterdam, The Netherlands PreEuRegMe April 2014, Krakow, Poland EuRegMe, April 2014, Warsaw, Poland OC Youth PreWHA, May 2014, Geneva, Switzerland WHA, May 2014, Geneva, Switzerland External Representation Global Health Conference, September 2013, Hobart, Australia ICMYO September 2013, New York, USA IANYD September 2013, New York, USA Informal Forum for International Student Organizations, October 2013, Lisbon, Portugal European Youth Forum COMEM, November 2013, Thessaloniki, Greece Human Resources for Health 3rd Global Forum, November 2013, Recife, Brazil Prince Mahidol Award Conference, January 2014, Bangkok, Thailand
Candidature for the Position of Liaison Officer to the World Health Organization
World Conference on Youth, May 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Informal Forum for International Student Organizations, May 2014, Utrecht, The Netherlands Other relevant experience 2005 – 2008 Lisbon Model United Nations (MUN) Conferences 2007 – 2008 Paris Model United Nations (MUN) Conferences 2005 – Present Various volunteer experiences in Volunteer Summer Camps, Portugal 2008 – 2012 Volunteer in Rabo de Peixe, Azores, Portugal 2012
Volunteer in Guiné Bissau
________________________________ Pedro Correia de Miranda
13