International child rights monitoring program makes New Brunswick its home
Based at the University of New Brunswick, Globalchild is a thriving Program of Research that is mandated to link child health and development to child rights.
The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is the new international home of an important pilot project for the future of children’s health.
Globalchild is a child rights monitoring platform that will allow countries to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), an important treaty that standardizes a number of factors for children, and forces governments to uphold those standards so that children can grow up to become healthy, productive members of society. New Brunswick is the first location where Globalchild will be used.
The school was chosen by Dr. Ziba Vaghri, a Canadian researcher behind this international innovation, who relocated to New Brunswick this fall, becoming a senior research associate in the department of psychology on UNB’S Saint John campus. Vaghri has been an expert in child health, development and rights for over 20 years, starting as a pediatric nurse. Her research looks at the social determinants of children’s health, such as economic or cultural factors.
“I’m pleased that we’re piloting it in Canada first,” said Dr. Vaghri. “I’m Canadian and Globalchild is built upon generous funds granted to me by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. It’s very important to me that this Canadian ingenuity built with Canadian public funds will have a Canadian stamp on its first pilot here in New Brunswick,” said Vaghri. The team will move to international pilots later when the pandemic is resolved.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was originally signed in 1989, but even into the early 2000’s social determinants of health were considered a niche subject in medical schools. Governments also found it difficult to properly track information and implement changes; Globalchild will streamline this process.
As the home of Globalchild, the province will play an important role in refining the tool designed to improve the health of children in the province and eventually around the world. Data collected from this pilot in 2021 will help New Brunswick figure out ways to effectively combat child poverty and address childhood developmental vulnerabilities. Collecting and understanding this data is the first step in combating the issues that affect children’s health. This opens the door for data-informed policy and program development. Globalchild provides a tool to develop a roadmap for achieving better child health.
“There are a host of factors that can affect a child’s health,” said Vaghri. “Some of them are well-established, like family income. But there are lesser known factors, as well, such as gender equality or mental health in the digital era.”
Globalchild will look at all these factors, which are articulated as children’s human rights under the CRC.
“We have operationalized the CRC and unpacked these rights to understand their core elements, and the government’s capacities that are required for fulfilling these rights, such as policies and programs.”
Vaghri was drawn to UNB because of its Integrated Health Initiative (IHI). Founded in 2020, the program focuses on health education and research with an interdisciplinary, collaborative approach.
“The IHI looks at health from a renewed lens, one beyond a matter of medicine,”
Vaghri said. “In order to train tomorrow’s professionals, they need to know other disciplines like environment, ecology and policy issues. I see it as a great home for my research. Similarly, I see a chair in ‘child health and child rights’ as an effective contributor to the vision of this unique initiative.”
Globalchild is an example of the impactful work that UNB is bringing to New Brunswick.
Dr. Paul J. Mazerolle, president and vice-chancellor at UNB, said the innovative Integrated Health Initiative was created to help achieve systemic health care reform in New Brunswick and Canada. The academic institution is making major investments in health with five new research chairs soon to be created; a focus on public health and health policy, management in health, digital health, aging in the community and child rights and health. Mazerolle predicts over time, 25 to 30 per cent of students at the Saint John campus will be in health.
UNB’S Integrated Health Initiative will better equip the leaders of tomorrow to bring fresh perspectives to help solve the province’s challenges.
“New Brunswick’s population is aging. There are real pressures on the health system,” Mazerolle said. “There’s an educational component, but also one of research innovation, where we can focus on challenges such as aging, digital health, health policy issues, administration, and child rights.”
With the pandemic still affecting our daily lives, the future health of our children has only grown in importance. Dr. Vaghri said the effects of lockdowns and learning from home – while necessary for curbing the spread of COVID-19 – have had an untold impact on children that will need to be addressed once the pandemic ends. “We must put child health and development at the centre of the postpandemic recovery phase,” she said.
As the home of Globalchild, UNB finds itself in a unique position to take the lead on this worldwide challenge.
“Children are the most vulnerable members of society,” said Dr. Vaghri. “UNICEF estimates an additional 150 million children have fallen into poverty due to the pandemic. This has grave ramifications on child development. The work we’re doing here has become more important than ever.”
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An estimated additional 150 million children globally have fallen into poverty during the pandemic, with grave ramifications on child development. The work we’re doing here has become more important than ever.”