In keeping with the official IWD 2023 campaign theme of #EmbraceEquity, the event will feature a panel of speakers sharing their stories and thoughts on Embracing Equity. The event will explore ways in which we can all play a part in supporting efforts to empower women – bridging gender gaps, improving health and wellbeing, and removing inequities in society.

When: Monday 6 March 2023.
Time: 12.00pm (AEDT).

This will be a hybrid event, taking place at our head office Djeembana in Naarm (Melbourne), and viewable live online. For those attending in person, lunch will be available following the presentation.

As part of the event, RANZCOG is proud to be supporting Share the Dignity, a charitable organisation working to end period poverty in Australia by providing vulnerable women in our community with essential sanitary products. During the event there will be Share the Dignity donation boxes in place at Djeembana, allowing those attending the event in person to make a contribution to support the campaign. Click here to find out more about the Share the Dignity campaign.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Dr Marrwah Ahmadzai
Dr Marrwah Ahmadzai is an obstetrics and gynaecology registrar and a devoted advocate for providing empathetic and culturally sensitive care to women from all backgrounds. As well as providing public commentary on other social and health issues, Marrwah has written an article for SBS Life about her parents’ journey as refugees, which raises awareness of the sacrifices and challenges faced by refugees and migrants when they resettle in another country.

Marrwah helped develop a video on migrant and refugee health for Women’s Health Week 2020 for RANZCOG. She has used her platform to open discourse about diversity more broadly, including a TEDxCanberra talk on the power of storytelling in breaking down barriers.

Marrwah represents the junior doctor body at the Canberra Region Medical Education Council, the ANU COVID-19 peer support program, and the Council of Doctors-in-Training. In 2021, Marrwah won the ACT Multicultural Individual Champion Award at the ACT Multicultural Awards

Iffath Afroze
Iffath Afroze is the Head of Governance and Legal at RANZCOG. During her three years at RANZCOG, she worked on the College’s governance, contract management, compliance with Regulations, Legislation, oversight of legal matters, appeals and independent external consultations. Iffath’s team manages RANZCOG’s elections, constitution, regulations and policies and organisation-wide committee’s terms of reference.

Iffath has more than ten years of corporate governance experience and has worked in not-for-profit organisations for the past five years. Her career encompasses managing compliances with regulatory bodies, legislation and ensuring that Board processes run efficiently and effectively.

In her most recent role, Iffath managed a successful application to register a higher education provider with Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA). Iffath holds a Degree in Law and Commerce. Iffath is a member of the Governance Institute of Australia. In addition to being a registered Lawyer in India, she is working on her registration as a Lawyer in Victoria with the Victorian Legal Admissions Board (VLAB).

A/Professor Leigh Tooth
A/Professor Leigh Tooth is a Principal Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) at the University of Queensland.

As the Epidemiology Theme Leader in the Australian Women and Girls’ Health Research Centre, she leads a program of research into maternal and child health, including screen time and prevention. Leigh’s other research interests are health inequalities, the socio-economic determinants of health and comorbidity, and caregiving.

Cynthia Tapiwa (facilitator)
Cynthia is Project Lead, Women’s Health, Research and Policy at RANZCOG.

Cynthia leads the Maternal Health and Gynaecological Services in Rural, Regional and Remote Australia: Uptake, Barriers and Recommendations – Mapping Research Project. The aim of the project is to develop an overview of rural, regional and remote services. This will help identify workforce and service gaps. Recommendations will then be made to the Federal Government to support service and workforce planning.

Cynthia has over ten years’ experience leading projects that helped improve healthcare access in Australia and the United Kingdom. These include a project that focussed on bowel cancer late diagnosis in North London, and most recently programs that helped address health and workforce inequalities faced by rural Victorians when accessing primary care. Cynthia completed the UK National Health Service Graduate Management Program, has a degree in Finance and Information Management (with honours) from the University of Westminster, and completed postgraduate studies at Kings College London in Managing Healthcare Ed.

Cynthia will be the facilitator for the session.