Lydia and Kylie

Lydia is a qualified paediatric/neonatal care nurse and clinical tutor. She is currently writing her thesis, investigating the various risk factors that contribute to adverse birth outcomes for women in the Solomon Islands.

Lydia hopes that her participation in the Women’s Leadership Initiative will strengthen her leadership skills and help her to mentor women and younger generations. She is keen to become a leader within her community, addressing the critical issues that affect Solomon Islander women.

Kylie is a maternal and child health, immunisation, and communicable diseases expert, with 20 years of experience in Australia and the Pacific.
Kylie has coordinated several post-disaster health projects, ensuring interventions are effective and wide reaching, and she has advised the World Health Organisation and UNICEF on issues of immunisation and health education.

In 2005, Kylie initiated the Pacific Immunisation Program Strengthening (PIPS) committee, which lead to a collaborative approach to donor funding and technical support for immunisation programs, and successfully coordinated the efforts of 22 Pacific Islands Countries. She also recently assisted the Murdoch Children's Research Institute to introduce three new vaccines into four Pacific Island countries (Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu).