Dr Katie Woolaston will chair a panel event at the upcoming 8th World One Health Congress in Cape Town, South Africa.
One Health and the Law: Existing Frameworks, Intersections and Future Pathways will feature the following panellists:
- Kashish Aneja, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University
- Carmen Bullon, Food and Agriculture Organization
- Associate Professor Bridget Lewis, QUT Australian Centre for Health Law Research
- Dr Catherine Machalaba, EcoHealth Alliance
Session Abstract
One Health offers various conceptual benefits, including governing for public health in a way that simultaneously protects the natural environments that we rely on. Practically, One Health must include the mobilisation of multiple governance sectors and the promotion of multidisciplinary collaboration. While the limits of the framework are oft-discussed, prominently for the purpose of this session, One Health has not been considered within a law/policy context at broad scale. This objective of this panel discussion is to consider how One Health may be institutionalised in a productive, just and effective way, throughout governance and legal structures, to achieve a more holistic accounting of its purpose.
The chair and panellists will discuss their forthcoming edited collection ‘One Health and the Law: Existing Frameworks, Intersections and Future Pathways’, to be published by Cambridge University Press, later this year. Following the structure of the book, the panellists will discuss where One Health is already embedded in law and policy at both international and domestic levels and will consider what One Health frameworks may learn from other legal theories, concepts, and practice. Finally, the panellists will share their thoughts on the grander goals of One Health and suggest ways in which One Health as a framework may be used to fundamentally improve legal systems and the law’s relationship with environmental, animal and public health.
About the Panellists
Chair – Dr Katie Woolaston
Dr Katie Woolaston is an interdisciplinary researcher, lawyer and Senior Lecturer in the School of Law at QUT. Her research is focused on international and domestic wildlife law and the regulation of the human-wildlife relationship. She is particularly interested in using the social sciences to resolve long-held and deeply-rooted attitudes and values that are contrary to conservation and embedding such processes in law and policy. She also focuses on the integration of One Health approaches in wildlife and environmental policy in the wake of COVID-19. She was an expert on the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) panel concerning Biodiversity and Pandemics, and is on the Technical Advisory Group of the United Nations Environment Program’s ‘Nature4Health’ Initiative. Her first book, titled ‘Ecological Vulnerability: The Law and Governance of Human-Wildlife Relationships’ was published by Cambridge University Press in 2022.
Speaker – Kashish Aneja
Kashish Aneja leads initiatives in Asia at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University and supports the Center for Transformational Health Law at the Institute with his global legal expertise in health law and policy. He is also a practicing advocate at the Supreme Court of India, the co-founder of the Society for Democratic Rights, New Delhi and serves on the WHO Roster of Consultants for Public Health Law and Policy. His work focuses on health security, commercial determinants of health, as well as the issues of law and policy surrounding epidemic and pandemic preparedness and the use of law to empower evidence-based public health practices.
Speaker – Carmen Bullon
Carmen Bullon holds a law degree, a Masters in EU law and a postgraduate degree in international trade. Following some years of work experience in public administration, she joined the FAO’s Development Law Branch of the Legal Office in 2006. In her current position as Legal Officer she has provided legal assistance and advice to more than 70 countries on different areas related to One Health and sustainable agri-food production, including animal health, production and welfare, food safety and quality, plant protection and production and agriculture contracts, among others. She has publications in the areas of food and agriculture and trade law.
Speaker – Bridget Lewis
Bridget Lewis is an Associate Professor in the School of Law at Queensland University of Technology. Her research explores various issues at the intersection of the environment and human rights, including climate change, constitutional and regional environmental rights protections and intergenerational justice. Bridget’s first book Environmental Human Rights and Climate Change: Current Status and Future Prospects (Springer, 2018) critically examines the concept of a human right to a healthy environment and its relevance to the climate crisis. Her recent research explores the human rights of future generations and the emerging trend of children’s climate litigation. Her new book, titled Environmental Rights for Future Generations, will be published by Cambridge University Press later this year..
Speaker – Catharine Machalaba
Catherine Machalaba is the Principal Scientist for Health and Policy at the conservation, global health, and capacity strengthening organization EcoHealth Alliance. She was a lead author of the World Bank Operational Framework for Strengthening Human, Animal and Environmental Public Health Systems at their Interface (‘One Health Operational Framework’) published in 2018 to assist countries and donor institutions in implementing One Health approaches. She is a member of the One Health High-Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP). Catherine holds an undergraduate degree in biology, a masters in public health, and a PhD in environmental and planetary health sciences. She served as Program Officer for the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Wildlife Health Specialist Group for over 10 years.
Find out more
One Health and the Law: Existing Frameworks, Intersections and Future Pathways will take place on Sunday 22 September 2024. To find out more, visit the 8th World One Health Congress website.