Inter-Council Network (ICN) | Le Réseau de coordination des conseils (RCC)

This podcast series is produced in partnership with the Nova Scotia-Gambia Association and aims to raise awareness and deepen understanding of the topic. It will explore the issue in three different contexts: The Gambia, China, and Canada, examining the impact on socio-economic and environmental development in these regions.

This episode offers an in-depth discussion on women's mental health within the Gambian context, delving into challenges they encounter, such as limited access to quality health care services and weak societal support systems. Our guest speaker, Modou Ceesay, underscores the significance of women's health and elucidates predominant mental health issues women face, including depression and drug-induced psychosis. He elaborates on how socio-economic shifts adversely affect women's mental health and how these concerns are often overlooked within communities. A central theme is the insufficient access to quality healthcare services, a consequence of inadequate infrastructure, scarce healthcare supplies and high costs, limited staffing and security, and the challenge of reaching a broader swath of the country. The episode concludes with Ceesay pinpointing various shortcomings in the healthcare delivery system, offering potential solutions and suggesting methods to better protect mentally vulnerable individuals within our communities.

In this episode, we're joined by guest speakers Jenny, Nana, and Jasper from Space Hug, an initiative addressing the rapid rise of technology use in China, with a focus on Chinese women's mental health. Using the popular Chinese social media platform RED, Space Hug disseminates knowledge and raises awareness on critical issues like mental illness stigma, social anxiety, and phobias through live streams and workshops. Garnering over 100,000 views from their initial streams, Space Hug has evolved into a platform for support, mutual learning, and growth. We explore how rapid urbanization and demanding work cultures, represented by terms like "996," "007," and "11117," affect the mental well-being of Chinese women. The episode uncovers systemic barriers such as stigma, lack of awareness, and financial constraints that prevent women from seeking help. Our conversation also delves into the varying challenges women face in different regions within China and discusses strategies to make mental health services more accessible and adaptable. Space Hug exemplifies the innovative approaches being taken to offer unique mental health solutions for Chinese women.

In this episode, guest speaker Jordan Smith joins us to explore women's mental health in indigenous communities, specifically Glooscap First Nation, in Canada. We'll delve into how culture, history, and systemic barriers such as access and cost have uniquely impacted these communities. Jordan points out the significant gaps in professional training, particularly in understanding the historical context that needs to be addressed. The episode also highlights holistic treatment as a promising avenue for healing, emphasizing its role in addressing trauma and unhealed communities, while also acknowledging the room for improvement in tailoring services to diverse needs.

To achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs), there is a need for a multi-stakeholder approach that includes and values knowledge, expertise, and experiences by different actors including grassroots organizations. We conclude this season with a focus on SDG 17 Partnerships For The Goals, through multistakeholder collaboration, and partnerships through civil society and the small nations with our guest, April Ingham, Executive Director, Pacific Peoples' Partnership.

Every year, the porcupine caribou herd embarks on the longest land mammal migration in the world, covering over 2400 km from the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and into Alaska. Oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge threatens the food security, spiritual and cultural foundation of the Indigenous Gwich'in Nation of Alaska and Canada. This week we talk to Lorraine Netro, an Elder of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, who serves on the Board of Directors of the Gwich’in Steering Committee. We talk about the advocacy campaign to save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Porcupine Caribou from development, the importance of the Porcupine Caribou to the Gwich’in, and the impact development would have to the culture and food security of the Gwich’in Nation.

Multi-stakeholder partnerships play a key role in the implementation of the seventeen sustainable development goals under the UN’s Agenda 2030. In this week’s episode, we explore SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals, and community support in addressing environmental conservation with our guest Chris Rider, Executive director of Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), Yukon Chapter.

According to the UN, we have less than a decade to take clear action on climate change, otherwise, the planet will experience catastrophic effects that will be irreversible. This week we discuss the growing anxiety and distress caused by the implications of climate change, the impact of COVID 19 impacts on climate action, and what’s needed to meet our 2030 goals towards SDG 13 with our guest Eddy Perez, International Climate Diplomacy Manager at Climate Action Network Canada.

Universal access to sexual and reproductive health (SRHR) is pivotal to improving the quality of life for everyone. It is argued that any effort to encourage sustainable growth must prioritize the health and well-being of women and girls. Inequalities between and within countries persist and will continue to limit attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in areas of health, education, and gender equality. In this week’s episode, we explore the issue of the need for universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights for women and girls with Julian Muturia, a Gender Specialist at World Renew.

To address the global challenges that we face such as poverty, natural disasters, and conflicts, in a way that leaves no one behind, we need to prioritize mental health. Poor mental health and insufficient resources for mental health pose a challenge to our individual and collective capacities to work towards achieving the sustainable development goals. We explore this issue further with our two guests relating to their work, our first guest Ambassador Freddy Wangabo Mwenengabo, Executive Director of the East and Central African Association for Indigenous Rights (ECAAIR) to discuss the need for a global prioritization on mental health, the inequities posed in the area to marginalized community and the work of the ECAAIR in their interventions at addressing mental health.