The Inequality Question is a unique project to debate global inequality issues. On the last Thursday of each month – #ThoughtfulThursday – children formerly or currently living on the streets of Uganda choose one inequality question to discuss and lead a live conversation online, with participants worldwide. These conversations give participants and facilitators the opportunity to discuss their thoughts, experiences and aspirations on how to make the world a more equal place. Individuals, classes, groups and organisations are joining into the conversation, not only to have direct discussions with children experiencing many inequalities, but also to spark ideas that lead them to undertake an “Inequality Challenge”, so that they can become a catalyst for change. Samuel Woria undertook one of the Inequality Challenges that focused on gender. For one week, six women dictated all of Samuel’s decisions. Samuel chose to take part in this challenge because he believes that men in Uganda do not treat women fairly and equally. His experiment not only facilitated challenging conversations, but also made an impact in his community. Many men have contacted Samuel to say they are trying to alter their behaviour towards women, and women have expressed their happiness to be shown such public support in their struggle for equality.
Useful Resources
Health Links partnerships have the capacity to make a significant contribution to health system strengthening but only if they are well planned, managed and aligned to needs. Governments and health managers in many countries, including the United Kingdom (UK), Uganda, Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania, are now beginning to look more actively at how these types of partnerships can contribute to health system development in their countries. This manual provides guidance, shares experiences and offers examples of good practice from those directly involved in Links. It aims to help both UK and developing country Link partners to think more strategically about their work. As a reference document for Link partnerships, this manual is aimed at those seeking to form a Link, or already involved in an established Link, such as health professionals, policy makers, health advisors, NGOs and others from the UK or a developing country interested in finding out more about what Links are and what they can offer.
IRHMedEd is a new forum for people actively working in preservice medical and health education in international reproductive health (IRH). IRHMedEd aims to strengthen the growing community of experts in this field by facilitating a global dialogue and creating an environment for exchanging lessons learned, sharing resources and ideas, solving individual and common problems, and advancing the field of IRH Medical Education.
Titled “The Land of No Men: Inside Kenya’s Women-Only Village” the 30-minute documentary report takes audiences to northern Kenya, “where the foothills of Mount Kenya merge into the desert,” home to the people of Samburu, which is also where Rebecca Lolosoli founded Umoja village as a safe haven for women from a society long-maintained as a strict patriarchy for over 500 years. “Umoja, which means “unity” in Swahili, is quite literally a no man’s land, and the matriarchal refuge is now home to the Samburu women who no longer want to suffer abuses, like genital mutilation and forced marriages, at the hands of men. Throughout the years, it has also empowered other women in the districts surrounding Samburu to start their own men-excluding villages. Broadly visited Umoja and the villages it inspired to meet with the women who were fed up with living in a violent patriarchy.”
The first issue of the Healthlink Worldwide newsletter, 'The Link', looks at the efficacy and appropriateness of HIV/AIDS communication - which become ever more critical as the epidemic's complexity and spread continue to grow.
The Human Rights Matrix lists the international human rights documents that are important to reproductive and maternal health, family planning, and HIV/AIDS. The Matrix permits you to access information about a POLICY country's human rights obligations. You can: Select a POLICY country and see the RH/MH/FP/HIV/AIDS-related human rights documents this country has signed; Select a right and see what RH/MH/FP/HIV/AIDS-related human rights documents have to say about this right; Select a document and see which rights are listed in this document and the document's exact language about this right.
The Municipal Service Project (MSP) has just updated its website. MSP is an inter-disciplinary project made up of academics, labour unions, non-governmental organisations, social movements and activists from around the globe. The project is guided by a Steering Committee, made up of representatives from project partners and coordinated by the project co-directors, David McDonald (Queen’s University, Canada) and Greg Ruiters (Rhodes University, South Africa). It is a five-year inter-sectoral and inter-regional research project that systematically explores alternatives to the privatisation and commercialisation of service provision in the health, water, sanitation and electricity sectors. Having spent the first two phases of the project (2000-2007) criticising privatisation, this phase of the project (2008-2013) will analyse service delivery models that are successful alternatives to commercialisation and to understand the conditions required for their sustainability and reproducibility.
The Open Budget Survey is a comprehensive analysis and survey that evaluates whether governments give the public access to budget information and opportunities to participate in the budget process at the national level. The Survey also assesses the capacity and independence of formal oversight institutions. The IBP works with civil society partners in 100 countries to collect evidence. To easily measure the commitment to transparency, IBP created the Open Budget Index from the Survey. The Open Budget Index allows for comparisons among countries and across years. the website provides a 2014 calculator to predict the outcome of the next survey and see where transparency can improve.
“Is South Africa’s rainbow nation a myth? What is race in 2016?” These are the questions explored in a powerful new documentary film from South Africa. The People versus the Rainbow Nation investigates what drove the country’s students towards mass action in 2015, between the successful #RhodesMustFall campaign to the nationwide #FeesMustFall protests. Filmmaker Lebogang Rasethaba (Future Sound of Mzansi) and producer Allison Swank follow the lives of students across four South African universities as they explore the notion that more than two decades since South Africa’s first democratic elections, the struggle is far from over. “I think it’s about to get really intense in South Africa,” says one student. “I don’t believe in the Rainbow Nation. The Rainbow Nation is a fallacy,” says another.
Looking for a copy of the People's Health Charter? What language do you want? It's now available on the People's Health Movement website http://www.phmovement.org in 27 language versions - everything from Arabic to Urdu.