What WHEP is

The bases of WHEP

Science Academies have a major role to play in the development of knowledge in societies.

Decision-makers and indeed any member of the community can turn to them for expertise and advice on scientific aspects of worldwide issues, notably health.

Health is the basis of each individual’s physical and intellectual wellbeing, and plays a decisive role in the economic development of nations. Yet, despite considerable efforts, the control of public health continues to decline dramatically in a number of developing countries where phenomena such as contagious diseases, mother and child mortality, and malnutrition continue to take a heavy toll.

Women play a prime role in the field of health and hygiene, and are consequently key players in the development of societies. Their involvement is a major issue and underpins the WHEP initiative as a whole.

WHEP’s Goal

WHEP’s goal is to promote health via women by prioritizing and adapting all available methods of education. WHEP’s goals are part of an innovative approach based on lessons drawn directly from field experience.

WHEP recognizes cultural identities and strives to enable communities to assimilate sustainable knowledge by implementing scientific methodologies that enable the successful pursuit and evaluation of concrete action.

WHEP’s strategic choices

Science academies are committed to supporting nations by increasing their educational and research capability. The aim of WHEP, one of the most ambitious programs led by the InterAcademy Panel for international issues, whose membership includes more than 90 science academies, is to define strategies and methods for health education by women.

WHEP aims to surmount cultural barriers by basing its action on the universal nature of knowledge and on the capacity of each individual to access and appropriate knowledge, while integrating the specific cultural characteristics of his or her own community.

WHEP’s actions

At the initiative of local, domestic and international authorities, WHEP oversees practical education and health projects integrated with basic education policies. It is important too for WHEP to evaluate these actions and lay the foundations for the further expansion of their scope and application.

Educational documents, posters, leaflets, and the present Web site are produced to ensure transparent processes, gain support from partners involved in similar initiatives, and facilitate the appropriation, improvement, and circulation and extension of the processes.

 

Articles of the section

WHEP, a Women Health Education Programme

On 26 October 2006, by André Capron, in What WHEP is

Education is the cornerstone of all development strategies. Neither water, energy, environment, nutrition nor health problems can be considered without the essential role of Education in the progress of human societies. Health improvement in developing countries, one of the fundamental goals of the Millennium, represents more than anything this educational necessity, where women play a commanding part. It is the ambition of the WHEP programme to strengthen women’s authority in this field, (...)