Events and Conferences

Midwifery in Nova Scotia is at a crucial juncture. With the Department of Health set to release the provincial evaluation on midwifery implementation in November, we need to connect, share and plan for what comes next. 

Join them for an afternoon of education, discussion and strategy planning.

Share your experiences. Have your voice heard. Listen to what others
have to say. Learn about who has access to midwifery and who doesn’t.

Join a professionally-facilitated discussion and be part of developing a
concrete action plan.

Children welcome, snacks provided!

Sunday, October 24 · 1:00pm - 4:00pm

Women's Council House

989 Young Avenue, Halifax

Storyline Entertainment is thrilled to announce our Toronto community screening of Resilience: Stories of Single Black Mothers, directed by Lana Lovell, on Saturday October 23rd. This event will benefit Literature For Life, a non-profit organization that works to empower at-risk teenage mothers through literature.  A panel discussion will follow the film. Panelists include :

• Nancy Blades - social work manager and documentary participant 
• Dalton Higgins  - author of Hip Hop World and facilitator who works to promote positive fathering in the African-Canadian community 
• Wendy Komiotis - Executive Director of METRAC, an organization that works to eliminate violence against diverse women, youth and children 
• Director Lana Lovell.

Sat Oct 23, 7 pm

Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Ave. (near the intersection of St. George & Bloor, and close to the St. George suway station)

Admission fee $10 or Pay What You Can 

Doors will open at 6:30 pm

Screening and panel discussion to be followed by a reception- all are welcome!

Please stay afterwards to celebrate the completion of the film at the reception!

What would you do with 1 billion dollars? Budgeting for Women's Human Rights

FAFIA, the York University Centre for Feminist Research and Toronto  Women’s City Alliance invite you to join us for this day-long event.

When the federal government makes decisions about how to spend our  money, it is an expression of its
priorities and its values. Those decisions affect everyone living in  Canada and those decisions affect women and men differently.

Learn how the federal government makes decisions about spending and  how those decisions impact women in Canada. Find out how women can advocate for change at the local  and the federal level. Share your own priorities, develop a plan of action and create tools to address  the needs of your community!

Date: Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010
Time: 9:00am – 5:00pm
Location: YMCA Downtown, 20 Grosvenor St., Toronto, ON
Cost: Free
RSVP: info@twca.ca or 647-235-8575

To register, please complete & submit the attached registration  form.

Lunch will be provided.

Place: Washington, DC, USA
Date: 25-27 October 2010

The World Health Organization Department of Gender, Women and Health (GWH) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/Regional Office of the Americas (AMRO) will hold a meeting A policy dialogue for better evidence to improve women's health through gender and health statistics.

The meeting is a direct follow-up to the WHO report Women and health: today's evidence tomorrow's agenda (November 2009), which called for increased attention to the health of women. It highlighted, among others, the need to advance evidence-based policies to improve the health of women by developing and/or strengthening regional and country capacities to generate, analyse and use gender, equity and women's health data.

Aligning with Emerging Priorities for Change

Date: October 6, 2010, Time: 12-1 pm
Location: 280N York Lanes, Toronto ON

For additional information or to RSVP, please e-mail owhchair@yorku.ca by October, 1st.

Refreshments will be provided
ECHO: Improving Women’s Health in Ontario

BCAM invites members of the press to their offices at 5890 Avenue Monkland, suite 201 for a press conference announcing the launch of “Alternatives to Pink” on October 6^th, 2010 at 10:00 am. A BCAM Board member – and breast cancer victor – will provide a personal position statement and campaign directives. BCAM will provide visual displays and members will be available for interviews.

BCAM also invites the public and members of the press to attend other October campaign activities including a cosmetics-art project, “Art & Act”,  and “Street ACT/ION de la Rue”, a street theatre production pointing out the truth behind pink ribbon campaigns, like the ones used to sell personal care products that contain ingredients linked to breast cancer. Event details are available on this website.  

Also, see the attached PDF for the schedule of events.

Our Bodies, Ourselves is turning 40, and they ask you to join them as they celebrate the landmark book about women's health, reproduction and sexuality that for decades has inspired social change in the United States and around the world.

In celebration, they will be releasing an anniversary edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves, collecting stories of people's experiences with the book, and hosting a symposium on October 1 that will bring together women who are culturally adapting and transforming Our Bodies, Ourselves into different formats for use in their own countries.  

Read more about the OBOS 40^th anniversary.

There are two upcoming events dealing with women, equality and the law:

1. Launch of the NAWL Caucus Revitalization Project

Shirley E. Greenberg Chair for Women and the Legal Profession at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law and the National Association of Women and the Law invite you to attend the launch of the NAWL Caucus Revitalization Project:

When: Monday, October 4, 2010, 7pm
Where: The Atrium (3rd Floor), Fauteux Hall
57 Louis Pasteur St, University of Ottawa Campus
Guest speaker: Andrée Côté, past NAWL Director of Law Reform.
Wine and snacks will be served.
RSVP to info@nawl.ca by September 27, 2010 to attend

2. Women and Equality: Gender-based Analysis, Law, and Economic Rights

Feminist Legal Studies Queen's is holding a workshop on Women and Equality: Gender-based Analysis, Law, and Economic Rights on Oct. 22-23, 2010 in Kingston Ontario.

Purpose of the workshop: A decade ago, Canada had been ranked #1 on the UN Gender Development Index for four years. Today, Canada is ranked #74 out of 155 countries on the UN gender disparity measure. This workshop will identify and discuss strategic policy priorities created by the rapid erosion of women's equality in Canada, and avenues for change.

Presentations addressing women's needs and strategic priorities and  grounded in e.g. public policy, law, including international law, as well as sociology, economics, health/medicine, foreign affairs, women's studies, Aboriginal studies, development, gender/sexualities, accounting, environmental issues, and political science are sought.

WOMEN'S HEALTH:  PRACTICE & POLICY SERIES
BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre and the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women's Health are pleased to invite you to a lunch hour presentation.

What a Difference an X Makes: Total Joint Arthroplasty in Women
Tuesday, Sept 21, 2010
Noon-1:00 pm

More information is available here. 

"Sisters in Spirit" Vigils will be held on October 4th, 2010 across the country.

This year marks the 5th year of SIS Vigils. The goal of the vigil is to honour the lives of the over 580 missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls, support the grieving families and provide opportunities for healing and social change.  

For more information about this issue, read the Native Women's Association of Canada's report, What Their Stories Tell Us (PDF), released in March 2010.

You may also visit Facebook for information on the vigils.

Please see the attached documents about the Sisters in Spirit Campaign and how you can organize a Vigil in your community.