“The One Health Approach: Governance and Operationalization Challenges”

NOVEMBER 2, 2023 | Lifelong Learning Center, OVC Room 1714

7-9 PM | KEYNOTE & PANEL DISCUSSION

November 1, 2023 | 12:00-12:50 PM EST

Description: Our society is inseparable from the environment, whether it’s the planetary level impact of greenhouse gas emissions on climate change or the local impact of Toronto’s urban expansion on forest biodiversity. This talk introduces three different scales of anthropogenic impacts on the environment and the implications of the increasingly complicated interface between human society and natural systems.  

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) have launched the first joint plan on One Health. The Quadripartite Joint Plan of Action on One Health (2022-2026) seeks to improve the health of humans, animals, plants, and the environment, while contributing to sustainable development. Once implemented, it is hoped that the Joint Plan of Action will help drive down health risks through an integrated approach to human, animal and environment health.

But what does this look like, in practice? What needs to happen next to reduce barriers for countries facing the biggest challenges at the nexus of human/animal/environmental health?

The University of Guelph’s One Health Institute, in partnership with the Guelph Institute for Development Studies, are pleased to welcome Dr. Dominique Charron and Dr. Nitish Debnath for a panel discussion on New Directions in Global One Health. Both Dr. Charron and Dr. Debnath are members of the One Health High Level Expert Panel that helped develop the Joint Plan of Action, and will speak about possibilities for implementation from their unique vantage points – Dr. Charron focusing on the forthcoming Implementation Guide from the Quadripartitie UN organizations and WOAH, and Dr. Debnath focusing on how Bangladesh is implementing One Health at a national level.

Date: September 20, 2023

Time: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM

Location: ECLA 3702 A/B

This in-person event is free, and registration is not required. If you would like to participate virtually, you may join here.

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Schedule

12:00 PM	Introduction to the One Health Institute and One Health at the University of Guelph – Cate Dewey | Director, One Health Institute
12:10 PM	Introduction to the One Health Student Committee
12:25 PM	Tech break
12:30 PM	“New Directions in Global One Health” – Dominique Charron (Panelist) | 15 mins – Nitish Debnath (Panelist) | 15 mins – Andrea Paras (Moderator) | 20 mins – Structured Q&A
1:20 PM	Open Q&A
1:50 PM	Closing

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Panelists

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Dominique Charron

Dr. Dominique Charron is a Visiting Scholar in One Health at U of G. Dominique was formerly Vice-President, of Programs and Partnerships, at the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa. She is a member of the One Health High-Level Expert Panel, which was established by 4 global partners, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Health Organization (WHO), to enhance their cross-sectoral collaboration. OHHLEP developed a working definition of One Health, which was endorsed by the 4 global partners.

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Nitish Debnath

Professor Nitish Debnath is a veterinarian, holds a PhD in Virology from the University of Surrey, MSc in Tropical Veterinary Medicine from the University of Edinburgh and had his postdoctoral training on nonspecific immunity in Japan.

He pioneered the formation of One Health Bangladesh in 2008 as a civil society One Health platform for Bangladesh.  He has been involved with many national and international research projects on animal health and veterinary education. From 2011-2018 he worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as a technical advisor on One Health. Since January 2020 he has been working as Team Lead of Fleming Fund Country Grant to Bangladesh and is one of the 26 members of the One Health High Level Expert panel (OHHLEP), and has advised the Quadripartite (FAO, WOAH, WHO and UNEP) platform.

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Moderator

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Andrea Paras

Andrea Paras is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science. Prior to joining the University of Guelph in 2012, she was an Assistant Professor at the Asian University for Women in Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Dr. Paras teaches and supervises in the areas of international development, international relations, human rights and humanitarianism, religion and politics, community-engaged research, and intercultural competence. She has led the India Field School program, an intensive course on the ethics of international voluntourism that takes place in Guelph and Dharamsala, India. 

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One Health Student Committee (OHSC)

The University of Guelph’s One Health Student Committee (OHSC) is the official and CSA-accredited student organization for the Bachelor of One Health program and other students involved in One Health activities on campus. Since 2019, we have been the University’s first interdisciplinary student-led organization. Every year, we engage hundreds of students and other members of our community through One Health awareness and education, networking and collaboration, fundraising efforts, and scholarship opportunities.

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Seminar: “One Health Research in Action: Community-Based Approaches to One Health Projects in Asia and Africa”

July 14, 2023

View the seminar here!

Dr. Florence Mutua and Dr. Hung Nguyen-Viet from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) focus on One Health approaches to research, using specific, real-world examples to illustrate challenges and opportunities when conducting community-based/community-driven research with resource-poor, vulnerable populations in tropical areas.

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Seminar: “Is Implementation of One Health Globally Within Reach?”

June 27, 2023

View the seminar here!

Dr. Dominique Charron discusses her work on the UN Quadripartite One Health High-Level Expert Panel and her impressions of the Canadian high-level decision-making landscape. The talk will cover recent developments in policies and plans of international organizations in the Canadian context, and highlight some continuing gaps and potential actions.

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