Centre for Global Development's Month in Review - March 2023
What's been happening at the CGD this month:
It seems only yesterday we were looking ahead to March, and now it's passed! The CGD have had another busy month, with particular congratulations to Dr Lucia D'Ambruoso on having multiple papers accepted for presentation, and the NIHR CAMW Project teacher educator team for completing the first phase of their mindfulness training!
- The NIHR CAMW teacher educator team completed the first phase of their mindfulness training: a 14-week course on adult mindfulness. Congratulations to Prof Wences Nzabalirwa, Ali Kaleeba Bakali, Dr Elias Sebsibe, Wakgari Tasisa Duressa, Zergaw Lema, Kesia Ahobamfatiye and Anatole Ntwari Nziharanira! The training is now available open access here. The team will next be training in teaching mindfulness and mindfulness with children, led by Prof Graeme Nixon and Jane Negrych.
- The NIHR CAMW Project is delighted to welcome Dr Abraham Getaneh to the team! Dr Getaneh has joined UOA's HERU as a Research Fellow, and will be working on WP3.
- Dr Lucia D'Ambruoso's VAPAR project has been invited by the South African Medical Research Council (MRC) to present two papers at the: South African Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (SACENDU) Symposium for the Northern Region (Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces): https://www.samrc.ac.za/intramural-research-units/atod-sacendu):
- Paper 1 - Voice needs teeth to have bite’! Expanding community-led multisectoral action-learning to address alcohol and drug abuse in rural South Africa
- Paper 2 - Building cooperative learning to address alcohol and other drug abuse in Mpumalanga, South Africa: a participatory action research process
- Dr Lucia D'Ambruoso’s CRUK-funded 'Cost of living cost of smoking' team have had a paper accepted at a national conference being organised by Liverpool Hope University for end June 2023- Rethinking Poverty, Insecurity and the Cost of Living Crisis in the North West and Beyond (https://tinyurl.com/ym4wpkct ). The presentation is entitled: Cost-of-living/cost of smoking: cooperative learning on NCD health inequalities in deprived communities within the cost-of-living crisis.
- Prof Pamela Abbott gave a presentation on gender equality for IPARR in recognition of International Women's Day.
- Prof Pamela Abbott spoke at the NIHR Global Health Safeguarding, Ethics, IP and Assurance workshop on her experiences developing safeguarding practises on CGD projects.
- The NIHR CAMW Project registered 'A protocol for a systematic critical realist synthesis of school mindfulness interventions designed to promote pupils' mental wellbeing', available here. This is the first of three systematic reviews the project will be undertaking this year!
- The NIHR CAMW Project registered 'A Critical Realist informed pilot cluster control evaluating the effectiveness of a mindfulness intervention for promoting child and adolescenrt mental wellbeing in Rwanda and Ethiopia', available here.
Looking ahead to April 2023:
- 2-day workshop in Kigali for the NIHR CAMW Project and Scottish Literacies Project.
- Prof Pamela Abbott and Prof Wenceslas Nzabalirwa are visiting the TTC's involved in the Scottish Literacies Project.
- Open access training on Child Protection and Interdisciplinarity for the NIHR CAMW Project.
- The NIHR CAMW teacher educator team, taught by Prof Graeme Nixon and Jane Negrych, are training in teaching skills to prepare them to teach mindfulness to others.
- Event with the CGD and UOA Business School to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Rana Plaza traegdy and consider ethical trading ten years' on.