Summer School Reproductive Health & Rights – Belgium (BeMSA)

Name of the activity: Summer School Reproductive Health & Rights

Country/NMO: Belgium (BeMSA)

Program: Ethics & Human Rights in Health

Contact information: [email protected]

Type of the activity: Education

General description:

Worldwide, reproductive health and rights are important topics within the context of globalization and the sustainable development goals. The Summer School aims to play a leading role in bringing attention to these subjects on an international level. Participants attend interesting lectures taught by renowned doctors, professors and high-ranking officials connected to Ghent University as well as other international institutions.
We want to stimulate further close collaboration, encourage the intercultural discussion and exchange of information with respect to other’s beliefs and grounds. Thus, we provide the participants with a varied educational and social program and give them insights from various point of views. The didactic approach will start from SRHR (Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights)-related Sustainable Development Goals and use these as a framework during the full twelve days. During our lectures students from different cultures and nationalities will discuss subjects such as genital mutilation, IVF, female rights, HIV and abortion stigmas, gender diversity…

Focus area:

Reproductive Health & Rights

Problem statement:

Worldwide, reproductive health is an important topic within the actual context of human rights. Violations of these rights are frequent and take many forms. Women and children are denied essential sexual and reproductive health care. Female genital mutilation and early marriage are still an important problem. People don’t have accurate information about contraception and protection from sexually transmitted infections like HIV. There is still a lot of violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. These are only a few examples of violations against every person’s right to make their own choices about their sexual and reproductive health. There are also vast differences between nations and cultures regarding reproductive health. As there are many perspectives to these problems, it is difficult to fully understand the problems. This understanding is required if we want to act on these existing problems accordingly.

Target groups and beneficiaries:

Students from the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences from the 6 inhabited continents, that have successfully passed 2nd bachelor of their studies. Sufficient knowledge of the English language and special interest in the topic of health and migration is required.

Objectives and indicators of success:

• Further close collaboration and encourage the intercultural discussion and
exchange of information with respect to other’s beliefs and grounds
• Promotion of an insufficiently covered but highly relevant subject within present
society
• Emphasizing the internationally recognized Sustainable Development Goals
• Training in multidisciplinary consideration of health
• Create a social context in which both Belgian and foreign students are offered a chance to discover Belgium and get to know each other in an informal way

Methodology:

• By offering an easy accessible all-included experience in which an educational
and social program are included, as well as food and accommodation.
• By providing scientific based courses, brought by experts in their field of study.
The most relevant concerns in relation to reproductive health and rights are
highlighted in a structure of 5 modules that each will cover one specific target of
the Sustainable Development Goals throughout the Summer School.
• Students will participate actively by ‘blended learning’: resolve a case study, visit to an abortion center, discussion in a world café, prepare and bring a short
presentation concerning a discussed subject, interactive classes in which the
students are challenged to actively participate.
• Create an informal atmosphere by means of a social program in order to boost
interaction between the international company of students. E.g.: visit to Bruges,
International Cooking Event, sports activities, eating together, etc.

Plans for evaluation:

There will be an evaluation of the participants as well as an evaluation of the Summer School itself.
There is a permanent evaluation, which requires constant active participation during the whole program. At the end of the course the participants are required to give a short presentation of their case studies which will be evaluated by a divers panel and the other participants. there will be a debate between the students about controversy topics. This will be supervised by renowned professors.
The Summer School will be evaluated by an evaluation form that the participants can fill out. They can evaluate the Summer School in general, the team, the social activities, the content of the lectures, the lecturers themselves and give suggestions to improve the Summer School.