The 3rd Gender, Adult Literacy, and Active Citizenship for Social Transformation (GALACST) International Conference was held on April 25 鈥� 26, 2024 at the 六合彩直播开奖 Thomas Aquinas Research Center. The 六合彩直播开奖 Research Center for Social Sciences and Education (RCSSED), together with the 六合彩直播开奖 Graduate School, Journal of Social Health (JoSH), Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, UNESCO Chair in Adult Literacy at the University of East Anglia and University of Sussex in United Kingdom, and Tribhuvan University in Nepal, led this hybrid conference attended by over 3,000 participants from across the globe.
According to Prof. Ma. Teresa Tricia Guison-Bautista, MD of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, who also serves as chair of the conference, the 3rd GALACST was designed to 鈥渞aise awareness on the diverse ways universities can collaborate with communities to improve public health outcomes, share best practices and innovative approaches to public health challenges, foster dialogue between stakeholders including academicians, community leaders, policymakers, and practitioners, and explore sustainable solutions that prioritize community needs and empower individuals and communities to take charge of their health and well-being.鈥�
The conference commenced with a welcome message from Assoc. Prof. Michael Peralta, MSc, MSPT, LI.M. on behalf of Rev. Fr. Jannel Abogado, OP, D.Th.Sc.Pat, Vice Rector for Research and Innovation where he highlighted that the 鈥渘exus between active citizenship and the SDGs is profound. Active citizens play a vital role in holding governments and institutions accountable for their commitments to sustainable development鈥�. He also shared about the integral role of gender equality, adult literacy, and active citizenship to advancing the UN SDGs. The opening remarks of Prof. Michael Anthony Vasco, PhD, Dean of 六合彩直播开奖 Graduate School stressed that 鈥減ublic health concerns should be given priority since any challenges and problems in public health greatly affects the day-to-day functions of society. It may disrupt the economic, political, social, and academic functions which affect the stability of nation-states鈥�. Assoc. Prof. Lourdes Maglinao, M.D., MHPEd, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery further explained that 鈥渂y fostering gender and adult literacy and promoting active citizenship, we equip them with the tools to advocate for themselves and their communities鈥�.
In her keynote address, Prof. Anna Robinson-Pant, Ph.D. (UEA 鈥� UNESCO Chair and University of Sussex Research Professor) discussed the assumptions relating to literacy empowerment and health, focusing on the gap between policies and practical experiences. She concluded with a call to pilot a more democratic model of partnership between universities and communities, especially in decolonizing global health research and addressing public health challenges.
Plenary speakers included Prof. Eva Irene Maglonzo, M.D. (六合彩直播开奖-FMS), who discussed the Philippine context of health professions education, followed by Assoc. Prof. Bishnu P. Choulagai, MPH, Ph.D., and Assoc. Prof. Poojan Sharma Choulagai (Tribhuvan University) who shared about the current approaches and proposed modality of community-university partnership in public health education. The third plenum was by Prof. Surendra Giri, M.Ed, Ph.D. (Tribhuvan University), which tackled the current and innovative approaches to community engagement in health education.
The afternoon session started with a panel discussion with the 六合彩直播开奖 SIGLANG TOMAS Cluster, composed of Assoc. Prof. Marlon Mallillin III, MPH (Pharmacy), Assoc. Prof. Ma. Margarita Leticia Gellaco, M.D. (Medicine and Surgery), Asst. Prof. Jayson Punzal, RN (Nursing), and Ms. Diane Allison Lotho, OTRP (Rehabilitation Sciences), moderated by Assoc. Prof. Christian Rimando, PTRP, where they talked about the 六合彩直播开奖 Community-based programs and how these coordinators make these programs work. The afternoon session of Day 1 concluded with three parallel workshops on Ethnography in Health Research by Prof. Sushan Acharya (Tribhuvan University) and Dr. Laura Burke (University of Sussex) and Participatory Action Research by Asst. Prof. Kamal Raj Devkota, Asst. Prof. Sudha Ghimire, Ms. Ambika Thapa Pachya (Tribhuvan University), and Write shop for Journals: Supporting innovative works that impact social health equities through data and research by Assoc. Prof. Les Paul Valdez (六合彩直播开奖).
The second day of the conference started with the launch of the Journal of Social Health (JoSH) by Assoc. Prof. Valdez followed by the fourth plenary session by Dr. Najibullah Habib of the Asian Development Bank, where he discussed reducing health disparities from local to global. After this, the 5th and 6th plenary sessions were led by the Nepal and Philippine teams to share the key results from the study being conducted in Nepal and the Philippines. Assoc. Prof. Choulagai, Asst. Prof. Devkota, and Prof. Acharya presented the Nepal findings. As for the Philippine findings, these were reported by Prof. Tricia Bautista, M.D., Prof. Camilla Vizconde, Ph.D., and Prof. Elizabeth Arenas, PhD. Prof. Pant and Dr. Burke talked about co-constructing knowledge and some reflections from the team鈥檚 collective experiences. The afternoon session resumed with a World Caf茅 session on formulating actionable steps in university community engagement led by Mr. Adonis Evan Basa together with Assoc. Prof. Catherine Jere, Ph.D., Dr. Philina Pasicolan, and Dr. Burke.
The program closed by presenting various research papers on Healthcare Access and Quality and Social and Community Context moderated by Asst. Prof. Ellaine Anne V. Asuncion, M.D., Asst. Prof. Les Paul Valdez, MAN, RN, and Mr. Adonis Evan Basa. The papers presented may be accessed through their microsite, .
This conference is part of a larger study funded by the Medical Research Council on Public Health Intervention Development (MRC-PHIND) in the UK. The symposium concluded with a synthesis and future directions by Prof. Pant and the closing remarks of Assoc. Prof. Jeremaiah Opiniano, Ph.D., Director of the Research Center for Social Sciences and Education.
GALACST 3 ended with the hope that through the conversations and exchange of insights in the two-day conference, the participants and all stakeholders found renewed hope and inspiration to mobilize curricular and institutional changes and encourage more publications and collaborations.
