Densford Center hosts UN event

^{The webinar Innovative Approaches to Informatics and Big Data for SDGs and Health was a parallel event during the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women annual session.}

On March 17, the School of Nursing Katharine J. Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership hosted a virtual parallel event during the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women’s (CSW) 2023 annual two-week session. Engaging the expertise of the School of Nursing and interdisciplinary and global informatics faculty and partners, the panel focused on the relationship of digital technology and meeting the 17 UN Sustainability and Development Goals SDGs. More than 100 people attended the event from 13 countries.

The panel described how information, technology, resources from academia, practice and health systems, and research can achieve health improvements to service the SDGs and co-creation of the highest level of health for individuals, families and communities. Members highlighted an interdisciplinary, interprofessional model using and disseminating digital technology to innovate, create efficiencies, generate knowledge, and operationalize massive information so it can be understood by all and, thus ensure equity, access and quality health care across continuums, transitions and diverse systems. In keeping with the CSW purpose, particular attention on climate, women’s health and women’s leadership were interwoven into the presentation.

The UN Commission on the Status of Women is the principal intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Densford Center was approved to host a parallel event because it was awarded associate member status in the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO). This membership brings the School of Nursing to the table to engage in policy and action at the international level. Parallel events such as this, organized outside the formal program of the session of the commission, provide an excellent opportunity for member states, UN entities and NGOs to discuss themes of the commission.

Dean Connie White Delaney, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, FNAP, coordinated the panel presentation, titled Innovative Approaches to Informatics and Big Data for SDGs and Health. University of Minnesota panelists included Sripriya Rajamani, PhD, MPH, MBBS, FAMIA, Jenna Marquard, PhD, Martin Michalowski, PhD, FAMIA, Christie Martin, PhD, MPH, RN-BC and Dorcas Kunkel, DNP, RN, PHN, CNE, CPHIMS, CDIP. Global panelists included Edwin Beyan DHSc, MSNEd, BSc, RN; Moher Patern College of Health  Sciences in Liberia; Ernesto Morais, MScHEM, RN, CHN, Porto School of Nursing in Portugal; Hyeoun-Ae Park, PhD, RN, FACMI, FAAN, Seoul National University in Korea; Selda Secginli, PhD, RN, Istanbul University – Cerrahpasa, Istabull in Turkey; and Merve Altiner Yas, PhD RN, Istanbul University – Cerrahpasa, Istabull in Turkey.