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17 October 2024 | Story André Damons | Photo Supplied
Dr Mutshidzi Mulondo
Dr Mutshidzi Mulondo, academic in the Division of Public Health within the Faculty of Health Sciences at UFS.

Dr Mutshidzi Mulondo, an academic in the Division of Public Health within the Faculty of Health Sciences, at the University of the Free State (UFS), has won a prestigious Global Health Award at the margins of the Global Health Summit in London, the UK.

Dr Mulondo, who is a Novartis Reimagining Healthcare Scholar and a Visiting Scholar at the Beaver College of Health Sciences at Appalachian State University, in the US, was a finalist in two categories: ‘Mental Health and Well-being’ and ‘Rising Star’. She won the Zenith Global Health Award under the category ‘Mental Health and Well-being’. The awards ceremony took place on 28 September and saw health professionals and academics gather in Europe for the auspicious occasion.

“This nomination and selection are an honour that bears testament to my dedication and commitment to SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being). I hope this win serves as inspiration to young people, particularly to young women in academia and in the sciences,” says Dr Mulondo. The awards are an esteemed platform renowned for celebrating global recognition and excellence, fostering collaboration and innovation in the healthcare sector. They further serve as recognition for contributions made through education, research and/or technology and innovation.

Eco-anxiety

Dr Mulondo, who was invited to attend the summit for the first time, joined a panel of speakers on the session theme ‘mental health and climate change’ where she shared insights on eco-anxiety – the intersection of climate change and mental health which was coined by Albrecht as the chronic fear of environmental change.

Research by the McKinsey Health Institute, says Dr Mulondo, a fellow of the UFS Emerging Scholar Accelerator Programme (ESAP) and member of the UNESCO AG for Women in Science, indicates that more than 75% of young people are pessimistic about the future due to climate change. Most young people in the activism frontlines experience activist burn-out from consistent campaigning, while others experience eco-gaslighting from those who feel climate change is a non-issue. These negative emotions are further exacerbated by young people’s exposure to social media of constant images and conversations about environmental degradation due to climate change.

Pact for the future

Dr Mulondo flew to London from New York after participating in the 79th United Nations General Assembly’s Summit of the Future and Science Summit, as well as the New York Climate Week. She further provided insights into the adoption of the Pact for the Future which was adopted during the Summit of the Future. “With only 17% of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets on track to be achieved by 2030, 18% stagnant and 17% regressed to pre-2015 when the goals were first adopted (SDG Report 2024), Mental Health still remains among 10 global health issues to track according to the World Health Organisation (WHO),” says Dr Mulondo.

“The Summit of the Future, which is regarded as a once-in-a-generation high-level event,” she continues, “was aimed at establishing a new global consensus to safeguard the present and future generations. Current challenges such as health pandemics, political unrest, and climatic changes were factored into discussions to keep apace with the changing world in the adoption of the Pact for the Future”.

Recommendations and mitigation efforts should focus on encouraging those experiencing eco-anxiety to focus on joining collective action efforts (i.e. campaigns to clean ocean and beach environments (etc,) so that they feel they are doing something towards saving the planet. “This will help alleviate the feelings of ‘hopelessness’ which some experience from not knowing what to do about the environmental degradation. Furthermore, intergenerational collaboration is necessary for young people to voice their concerns and innovative ideas on the issue, while the older generation listens and further shares their lived wisdom. Ultimately, collective support (Ubuntu) is what is needed as part of the mitigation efforts,” concludes Dr Mulondo.

News Archive

2014 Winter Graduation
2014-06-27

 
It is time for the 2014 Winter Graduation on our Bloemfontein Campus. From 2 – 4 July 2014 Masters and Doctoral degrees will be bestowed on graduates from across all seven faculties as well as the School of Open Learning. These include the conferral of Medicine degrees on the South African Cuban trainees.

Wednesday 2 July 2014 at 14:30: School of Open Learning
The School of Open Learning will confer a total of 609 degrees this year – almost double compared to the 320 of last year.

Thursday 3 July 2014 at 09:30: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences
Prof Magdalena Blum will receive an Honorary Doctorat, DPhil honoris causa, at this event. Prof Blum is an Extension Systems Officer in Rome. She works for a specialised agency of the United Nations called the Food and Agriculture Organization. This organisation’s mandate is:
• to improve nutrition,
• increase agricultural productivity,
• raise the standard of living in rural populations and
• contribute to global economic growth.

Her position serves to modernise and strengthen rural advisory services, their systems and networks worldwide. She has filled this position for almost nine years.

Prof Blum is driven by a passion for development, humanitarian work and female upliftment, but most of all, to enable people to help themselves.

Blum’s life has taken her from a small German village to Africa, Asia and Europe – and she has made an impact wherever she went.

Thursday 3 July 2014 at 14:30: Faculties of Economic and Management Sciences, Humanities, Education, Health Sciences, Law and Theology
At this ceremony, Faculty of the Humanities will award an Honorary Doctorate, DPhil honoris causa, on Prof Laura Mulvey. She is a feminist film theorist and worked at the British Film Institute for many years. She is currently a professor at Film and Media Studies at Birkbeck, University of London.

Prof Mulvey was prominent as an avant-garde filmmaker in the 1970s and ‘80s. In collaboration with her husband, Peter Wollen, she co-wrote and co-directed:
• Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons (1974),
• Riddles of the Sphinx (1977, perhaps their most influential film),
• AMY! (1980),
• Crystal Gazing (1982),
• Frida Kahlo and Tina Modotti (1982), and
• The Bad Sister.

In 1991, she returned to filmmaking with Disgraced Monuments, which she co-directed with Mark Lewis.

Friday 4 July 2014 at 10:30: Special Graduation Ceremony
Conferral of Medicine Degrees on the South African Cuban trainees at the UFS

Live streaming will be available on: http://www.ufs.ac.za/ufslivestreaming/

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