Call for Youth PreWHA 2019 Participants and WHA Delegates

What is the World Health Assembly?

• The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the annual gathering of the highest decision-making body of the World Health Organization. It is attended by delegations from almost 200 Member States as well as recognized international NGOs and other partners.
• The 72nd WHA will be held from 20 to 28 May 2019, in Geneva, Switzerland. As in previous years, IFMSA will be organising a Youth PreWHA Workshop ​from 15th to 19th May 2019, just before the WHA. The Youth PreWHA is open to members of IFMSA National Member Organisations as well as other young people from various disciplines, creating an interprofessional working environment.
• The workshop aims to empower and strengthen the advocacy skill set of future health leaders as well as increasing the participants’ knowledge about global health topics that are central to the 72nd World Health Assembly. Furthermore, the event aims to improve the youth participation at the WHA and strengthen the voice of youth during global health negotiations.

• This year, the academic program will be centred on three key pillars – universal health coverage, meaningful youth participation and global health education. There will also be the opportunity for delegates to join advocacy working groups on important issues such as human resources for health, climate change and the environment, migrant and refugee health, pandemic preparedness and communicable diseases and many more!

How to apply?

For International Federation of Medical Students’ associations IFMSA members:

• Step 1: Fill out the following application form: https://goo.gl/7pg1CL

• Step 2: Prepare your candidature form: https://goo.gl/242vXE. It should be signed and stamped by your NMO President. Your candidature form should be ready before filling out the application form above as you will be asked to upload it in the application form.

For International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF)/ International Veterinary Students’ Association (IVSA)/ International Association of Dental Students (IADS) members:

• Step 1: Fill out the following application form: https://goo.gl/7pg1CL
• Step 2: Prepare your candidature form: https://goo.gl/qfyorH. It should be signed and stamped by your organization President. Your candidature form should be ready before filling out the application form above as you will be asked to upload it in the application form.

For any other students interested in joining the delegation:

• Fill out the following application form: https://goo.gl/HQMPDp. (Successful applicants will be requested to send candidature form later on).
• Please note that we welcome applications from students of any discipline who have a passion for global health!

Deadline for applications is the  23rd December 2018, 23:59 GMT. Accepted applicants will be notified no later than 20th January 2019. You may wish to refer to the IFMSA’s new How to Write an Application Manual (https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Y6wYdt2yjbF7bG95EUTJpnSGTDSsdLU3) to help you in this process!

Evaluation Criteria:
The applicants will be evaluated based on the following selection criteria:

• Motivation for attending the PreWHA/WHA, and how you will use this experience in the future.
• Relevant experience and interest in global health – please note that international experience is not required, and applicants with local/national experience are welcome to apply.
• Understanding of IFMSA advocacy work, including the role of young people in global health advocacy.

Note that the evaluation of the received applications will be double blinded to evaluators, each application will be marked twice with consideration of the criteria mentioned above. Moreover, strict gender balance, regional representation and subregional representation (eg. by national income) quotas will be applied in the selection process.

Registration fee:

• The registration fee for the Youth PreWHA is being finalised as we confirm logistics. The Organising Committee works hard to reduce costs for participants. If you are successful in your application, you will be alerted to the final cost as soon as possible.
• This fee will cover all costs including food, accommodation and materials at the Youth PreWHA. Moreover, The Organizing Committee provides accommodation during the World Health Assembly for interested delegates.
• Attending both PreWHA & WHA will cost between 300 and 500 Euros total.
• Full payment would be expected around the end of January, more information on payment and registration will be shared with accepted applicants.

What is expected from Youth PreWHA participants?

• It is expected that delegates will be able to attend both the PreWHA and at least 5-6 full days of the WHA.
• Fully commit to the Youth PreWHA preparations, contribute to the implementation of the advocacy strategy that will be developed during PreWHA, and sustain involvement during the post-­WHA follow-up. This will include readings, online meetings and preparatory projects.
• Delegates are expected to commit some time in the lead up to the WHA, including some online meetings between January to May, commit to completing pre-event reading and spend some time preparing statements and organising WHA scheduling before the event, which may involve a time commitment of two hours per week in the lead up to May.   

Previous PreWHA & WHA reports:

• PreWHA 2018 Report: https://goo.gl/7kNZdx
• WHA 2018: https://goo.gl/wxHMZb
• PreWHA 2017 report: https://goo.gl/HV5Vdr
• WHA 70 Report: https://goo.gl/Xhdc1Q

After selection, IFMSA can provide a support letter, to help with personal fundraising and to obtain a visa. Should you have any question or need extra information about the application process and the event, please do not hesitate to contact the Organizing Committee at [email protected]. In a few days we will update our website at https://ifmsa.org/pre-world-health-assembly. Here you will find this information ­and a whole lot more about the PreWHA and World Health Assembly.

Change-Maker Scholarship program: (Link for more details: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1SC-VMH8KP96n–DE1cEu55gS0zG5zgdQ)

• The World Health Organization Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research is partnering with the IFMSA to provide the first ever Change-Maker Scholarship Program for the World Health Assembly (WHA) and the Youth Pre World Health Assembly workshop (PreWHA).
• Change-Maker Scholarship recipients would receive full financial support for their attendance at the WHA and the PreWHA. This would include flights to and from their home city to Geneva, registration for the PreWHA, full accommodation, food and living expenses during the PreWHA and WHA, and any relevant visa payments.
• In order to be eligible for the Change-Maker Scholarship Program, you must be:
  • Be a student from any health disciplines/professions;
  • Have a nationality from a low or middle-income country;
  • Have a passion for global health, and especially for health systems and health policy.

For full details on how to apply for this scholarship, please check the following link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SC-VMH8KP96n–DE1cEu55gS0zG5zgdQ/view

Looking forward to reading your applications!

On behalf of the whole PreWHA Organizing Committee.

DISCLAIMER: By filling in the application form, you are willingly providing your personal information (Full Name, E-mail address, Passport issuing country, Country of Residence, Date of Birth, Gender, Primary field of study, additional information of a non-personal data nature) to IFMSA. The use of the information provided in the form will be in line with the purpose of the form and will not be used otherwise. The personal data provided will be stored until 1st of May 2020, or anonymised in case of further storage.  If you want us to remove your personal data before, you can request that by sending an email to [email protected]. The personal data will only be accessible by the IFMSA Team of Officials and the IFMSA PreWHA Organising Committee. Successful applicants’ names will be used to obtain entrance badges to the World Health Assembly. If you would like to know more about how we manage your data, please visit ifmsa.org/privacy.