Useful Resources

The right to the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental human right. However, millions of people in Africa do not receive adequate health care. Putting the right to health into practice would allow everyone, regardless of who they are or what health problems they have, to be able to receive help and treatment. Better health would also benefit the economy and society as a whole, argues Amnesty International. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society organisations (CSOs) can make a significant difference by promoting the right to the highest attainable standard of health. NGOs and CSOs have already encouraged governments to realise the right to health and they should continue to do so by monitoring government policies, calling attention to violations of the right to health and empowering communities to participate in realising their right to health. In conjunction with the main handbook (included in this newsletter), this booklet explains how this can be done. The booklet is divided into three sections: Section 1 gives a brief introduction to the right to health and the main issues facing CSOs working on the right to health; Section 2 gives advice on preparing to work on the right to health; and Section 3 is about realising rights in practice.

The World Health Organisation developed this handbook to provide an overview for health inequality monitoring within low- and middle-income countries, and act as a resource for those involved in spearheading, improving or sustaining monitoring systems. The handbook was principally designed to be used by technical staff of ministries of health to build capacity for health inequality monitoring in World Health Organization Member States; however, it may also be of interest to public health professionals, researchers, students and others. Users of this handbook will be expected to have basic statistical knowledge and some familiarity with monitoring related issues. The handbook serves as a comprehensive resource to clarify the concepts associated with health inequality monitoring, illustrate the process through examples and promote the integration of health inequality monitoring within health information systems of low- and middle-income countries.

While written with United Nations Development Programme staff, stakeholders and partners in mind, the handbook provides a useful overview of why and how to evaluate for development results which can be used in other contexts. This handbook concentrates on planning, monitoring and evaluating of results in development and is designed to be used as a reference throughout the programme cycle. The handbook covers the following areas: the integrated nature of planning, monitoring and evaluation, and describes the critical role they play in managing for development results; the conceptual foundations of planning and specific guidance on planning techniques and the preparation of results frameworks that guide monitoring and evaluation; how to plan for monitoring and evaluation before implementing a plan and issues related to monitoring, reporting and review; and an overview of the UNDP evaluation function and the policy framework, including key elements of evaluation design and tools and describe practical steps in managing the evaluation process.

Health Equity Impact Assessment (HEIA) tool has four key objectives: 1. Help identify unintended potential health equity impacts of decision-making (positive and negative) on specific population groups. 2. Support equity-based improvements in policy, planning, programme or service design. 3. Embed equity in an organisation’s decision-making processes. 4. Build capacity and raise awareness about health equity throughout the organisation. The HEIA tool includes a template and a workbook that provides users with step by step instructions on how to conduct an HEIA. The workbook walks users through five steps: scoping, potential impacts, mitigation, monitoring and dissemination. The results are recorded in the HEIA template. The tool may be used by organisations both inside and outside the health care system whose work can have an impact on health outcomes.