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This week – National Youth Coalition press conference, World No Tobacco Day and talk on food safety

This week – National Youth Coalition press conference, World No Tobacco Day and talk on food safety
Tamsin Metelerkamp
By Tamsin Metelerkamp
29 May 2023
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The National Youth Coalition will host a press conference on the upcoming Youth Day Parade for Justice and Change; World No Tobacco Day will inform the public about the dangers of using tobacco; and a World Food Safety Day webinar will lay out ‘The role of government in ensuring food safety in South Africa’.

On Tuesday, 30 May, at 12.30pm, the DG Murray Trust (DGMT) and Embrace are hosting “The Power of Connected Motherhood – Maximising the social capital of mothers and mother-supporters” digital event.

The event will serve as a launch for a new, free magazine The Power Trip – compiled by Embrace’s Mamandla Fellowship. Embrace is a social movement that values and celebrates motherhood and mothers, while the Mamandla Fellowship is an inclusive platform for sharing knowledge, mobilising resources, collaboration and advocacy.

“Mamandla demonstrates the power of social connectedness that is possible when space is intentionally carved out for mothers to gather. Now, the diverse stories of the Mamandla Fellows have been published in a new, free magazine,” says the event description.

The Power Trip contains the stories of 13 mothers and women leaders. The launch will be hosted by Gaopalelwe Phalaetsile, with guests including Kentse Radebe, innovation director at DGMT, and Dr Wanga Zembe-Mkabile, specialist scientist on the Medical Research Council. Register here.

Detail of a diseased human lung from a cigarette smoker. (Photo: American Cancer Society/Getty Images)


Wednesday 31 May is World No Tobacco Day.


The annual observance is intended to inform the public about the dangers of using tobacco, the business practices of tobacco companies, what the World Health Organization (WHO) is doing to fight the tobacco epidemic and what people can do to “claim their right to health and healthy living and to protect future generations”, according to the WHO information page on the event.

“The member states of the World Health Organization created World No Tobacco Day in 1987 to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and the preventable death and disease it causes.”

 

The Youth Day Parade for Justice and Change is being held on 16 June.



On Wednesday, 31 May, at 11am, the National Youth Coalition will host a press conference on the upcoming Youth Day Parade for Justice and Change.

The coalition is a youth-led collective of civil society organisations, movements and community organisations that “promote the development of ethical and transformative young leaders who strive to ensure that all youth living in South Africa are empowered and supported in the attainment of their constitutional human rights” according to the event description.

“The parade is taking place on 16 June and is a manifestation of the long-term goals which include the creation of a representative body of organised youth who actively respond to social, political, and climate issues among other things.

“By taking place on Youth Day in Tshwane, this mass action is organised not only in memory and respect of the sacrifices youth made in the fight against apartheid, but also sends a clear message that the demands and ambitions of the youth must be heard by the most powerful decision-making bodies of our country.”

The press conference will take place at the YMCA Orlando Hall in Soweto. It will provide an outline of the goals and ambitions for the parade.

For more information, contact Irfaan Mangera, interim chairperson of the coalition, on 072 910 8483, or Zusipe Batyi, communications manager, on [email protected]. 

On Thursday, 1 June, at 10am, there is a World Food Safety Day webinar on “The role of government in ensuring food safety in South Africa”.

The objective is to provide an overview of the food control system in South Africa; create awareness of South Africa’s participation in the Codex Alimentarius standards development; create awareness of the roles and responsibilities of the government on food safety; and provide an overview of the food control system in the country. Register here.



On Thursday at 12pm, the Health Justice Initiative and University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) are hosting a webinar on “Medicine access under NHI: Selection, pricing and procurement”.

Speakers at the event include Prof Fatima Suleman of the School of Health Sciences at UKZN; Inez Naidu of the Discovery Health Medicines Unit; Andy Gray of UKZN; and Fatima Hassan of the Health Justice Initiative.

Register here.

On Friday, 2 June, at 1pm, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group is hosting a Facebook live session on “Mental Health of Healthcare Workers – Healthcare Workers are Human too”.

“During this Facebook live chat on our Facebook page, we’ll dive deep into the challenges faced by healthcare workers and discuss practical ways to support their mental health,” says the event description. Access the Facebook page here. DM

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